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(monograph  ies) 


V 


Canadian  Imtituta  tor  HIatprlcal  MIcrarapnHluctlan*  /li^tftut  Canadian  da  nilcrofaproductlona  hiatorlquaa 


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Tfechmcal  and  Biblio«r«pHk  NofM  /.NotM  twhnMtUM  «t  bibliotrapltlquM 


TiM  Imtitutt  hMshtmpMd  tb  obtain  th«  b«l  of ifiiMl 
eo^ availabi* f or f ilmint.  Faatura* of  thitcofiv which 
may^  biblio«raphicallv  uniqua.  wrhieh  may  attarany 
ot  tha  imapat  in  tha  raproduetion.  or  whkh  may 
•i«nificantly  changa  tha  usual  mathod  |>f  filming^  ara 

chaciiad  balow.  „  V 


L'inititut  p  microfilm^  la  maillaur  aMamplaira  qn'il 
lui  a  *tA  possibfa  da  ta  prpcurar.  tat  dAtaili  da  eat 
aKaniplaira  qui  aent  paut-4tra  uniqua*  du  point  da  «ua 
bil^Bilraphiqua.  qui  pauvant  ntodifiar  una  imafa* 
r^tirbduita.  ou  qui  pauvant  axifar  una  modification 
dans  la  mAthoda  normala  da  filmafp  sont  indiquAs 
ti'dassoua.''-' 


FT"!  Colourad  co»ars/ 

I       I  Couvartura  da  eoulaui^ 

□  Covars  damapd/ 
Couvartura  andommagia 


Covars  rattorad  and/brlafninatad/ 
Couvartura  rasfaurte  at/ou  pallieulte 


□  Covar  titla  misting/ 
La  titrada  couMrtura  manqua 


□  ColouradiMgat/ 
Rkm  da  coulaur 

0f>a9atdama«ad/ 
F^agn  andommaftet 

□  ^atat  rattorad  and/or  laminatad/ 
Pagas  rastaurias  at/ou  pallicultes 


B 


Pagas  discolourad.  stainad  or  f oxad/ 
Pagas  dicolor4as..tachat*as  ou  piquias 


□ 

□ 


Colourad  maps/ 

Cartas  gtegraphiquas  an  coulaur 

Colourad  ink  (i.a.  othar  than  Mua  or  Mack)/ 
Encra  da  coulaur  (i.a.  autra  qu*  Maua.ou  noira) 

Colourad  platat  and^r  illuttrationt/  !^ 

Plandias  at/ou  illustrations  an  coulaur 


Bound  with  qthar  matarial/ 
Ralii  a  vac  d'autras  documants  . 


^\ 


nPagat  datachad/ 
PagasdAtach^ 


Showthrough/ 
Transparanca 

Quality  of  print  varias/ 
Quality  inigala  da  rimprastion 


j       I  Continuou*  pagination/ 
L__J  Pagination  continua 


rr 


quM 


□ 


Tight  binding  may  causa  shadows  or  distortion 
along  intarior  margin/ 

La  raliura  sarrAa  paut  causar  da  I'ombr^^u  de  la 
distorsion  la  long  di  la  niarga  intiriaura 

Blank  laavas  addad  during  rattoration  may  appaar 

within  tha  taiit.  Whanavar  pottibla,  thasa  hava 

baan  omittad  from  filming/ 

II  sa  paut  qua  cartainat  pagar  blanchas  ajoutias 

lorsd'iina  rastauration  apparaissant  dans  la  taxta. 

maif,  lortqua  cala  *tait  possibla.  ^  pagas  n'ont 

patMfilmto. 


V 


n 


Includas  indax(ai)/ 
Comprand  un  (das)  indax 

Titia  on  haadar  takan  from:/ 
La  titra  d»ran-tlta  proviant: 

Title  paga  of  istua/ 

Paga  da  titra  da  la  Jivri^on 


□  Caption  of  istua/ 
Titra  da  depart  da  la  livraison 


n 


Masthaad/ 

Ganariqua  (piripdiquas)  da  la,  livraison 


'4 


0  Additional  commants:/ 
Commahtairas  supplamantairat; 


Pages  wholly  or  jpartially  obscured  by  errata  slips,  tissues, 
etc.,  have  been  ref limed  to  ensure  the  best  possible  Image. 


'  this  itam  is  fllmad  at  thataduction  ratio  chackad  balow/ 
'^Ca  docuniant  est  film*  au  taux  da  rMuetion  indiqui  ci-dattout. 


IPX 


^4X 


lax 


-22X- 


26  X 


30X 


;    . 

V 

^  ■ 

t2X 


16X 


20X 


24X 


28X 


32X 


Th«  copy  filtnad  h«r«  has  b««n  r«produc«d  thanks 
to  th«  9«n«roslty  of : 

HMUirilidClMriliafCMMiAraliim       *• 


tho  imagot  appaaring  hara  ara  tha  bast  quality 
poMibIa  eonsidaring  tha  condition  and  laglblllty 
of  tha  original  copy  and  Irt  kaaping  with  tha 
filming  contract  spacif Icatlons. 


Original  co|)ias  fn  printad  papar  covarS|^a  fllmad 
baginning  with  tha  front  covar  an^  anding  on  / 
tha  last  paga  with  a  printad  or  iilustratfld  lmpf(is- 
slon.  or  tha  back  covar  whan  appropriata.  Mi 
othar  original  coplas  ara  filmad  baginningr'lkn  tha 
first  paga  with  a  printad  or  iliustratad  Impras- 
sion,  isnd  anding  on  tha  last  paga  with  a  printad 
or  Iliustratad  iniprassion. 


L'axamplaira  film*  fut  raproduit  grica  i  l« 
gAnArositA  da:  ■ 

■    ' ,  '  .    .  '■'  -  ■ 

TM  UsifM  CkiirA  cf  CismIi  AnkivM 


■>>: 


r\; 


Laa  imagas  sulvantas  ont  it*  raproduitas  avec  ia^ 
ptus  grand  soln,  eompta  tanu  da  la  condition  at 
da  la  jnattatA  da  I'axamplaira  f limA,  at  an 
conformity  avac  iM^onditioris  du  contrat  da 
fiimagil, 


.>v. 


^       Las  axamplalras  briginaux  dont  la  couvartura  an 
4  pspiar  ast  imprim^a  sont  fiimAs  sn  comman9ant 

par  la  pramiai'  plat  at  9n  tarmlnant  soi^ar  la 
darnlAra  paga  qui  contporta  una  ampratnta 
dimprassion  ou  d'illustration,  soit  p|ar  la  sacond 
plati  salon  la  cas.  Tous  las  iutras  axamplalras  - 
origlnaux  sont  filmAs  an  commandant  par  la 
pramiAra  paga  qui  comporta  una  amprlinta 
d'imprassion  ou  d'illustration  at  an  tarmlnant  par 
la  darnlAra  Pfoaoui  comporta  una  talla 
^    amprainta.  •  ■;  '    '. 


Tha  last  racordad  frania  oh  Mch  microlicha 
shall  contain  the  symbol  —<»•  (moaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  tha  symbol  y  (maaning  "END"), 
whichavar  appiias. 


Un  das  fymbolas  suivants  apparaltra  siir  la 
darniira  imaga  da  chaqua  microficha,  salon  la 
cas:  la  symbols  —»^signifi»  "A  SUIVRE";  la 
symbols  y  aignif la  "FIN.". 


Maps,  platas,  charts,  ate.  may  ba  filmpd  at   ; 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  ierge  to  be 
entirely  ihelu4ed  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  theupperlefthend  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as      , 
required.  The  following,  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: .  .„  ' 


Les  cartes,  plahehes.  tableaux,  etc..  peuvent  Atre 
f ilmte  A  des  taux  de  rMuction  djff6rents.    '         , 
Lqrsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  Atra 
raproduit  an  un  seul  ciich*.  il  est  filmA  A  partir 
da  I'angle  supArieur  gauche,  de  gaudha  h  droita, 
et  de  haut  en  bas.  en>  prenant  le  nombra 
d'images  nAcesssire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  mAthoda. 


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X5EORGE  H.  C  MACGREGOR 

M.A.  A  Biography  if  By  the  Rev 
Duncan  Campbell  MACiOREooR  m.a 
Wimbledon       if  it  if         -^ 


WITH   PORTRAIT 


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NEW  YORK        CHICAGO        TORONTO 
FLEMING    H.    RKVKLL    COMPANY   . 
Puhlishm  of  Evangelical  Literature 

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Preface 


.-^' 


FTER  my  cousin's  death,  It  was  hoped  that  . 
Professor  Moule  or,  failing  hl(|(i,  Mr.  Meyer, 
might  be  able  to  undertake  the  preparation  of  a.i 
brief  memoir.  Both  these  eminent  men  were  obliged, 
for  various  reasons,  and  especially  on  account  of 
^the  pressure  of  other  work,  to  decline  the  task. 
The  work  was  then  entrusted  to  me.  I  under- 
took  it  with  diffidence,  fearing  lest  the  subject 
should  suffer  from  Unskilful  handling.  None  the 
less  I  felt  obliged  to  accept  it  as  a  solemn  trust. 
Now  that  the  work  is  finished,  I  can  only  hope 
that  some  may  find  the  reading  of  it  as  profitable, 
and  as  full  of  admonition,  as  the  writing  has  been 
to  myseir 


■    i 
*      M 


Though  unable  to  undertake  this  book,  Dr.  Moule 
very  kindly  agreed  to  contribute  ia  chapter  on  Kes- 
wick and  George  Macgregor's  work  there.  Assist- 
ance of  this  kind  was  indispensable  for  «ie,  as  I 


vtt 


£» 


dih 


«a 


VIII 


PREFACE 


was  never  at  the  Convention  during  my  cousin's 
lifetime.  Dr.  Moule's  beautiful  narrative  and  tribute 
forms  Chapter  Vl  1 1. 

My  materials,  have  come  from  so  many  sources 
that  a  personal  e>cpresston  of  tlianks  in  every  case 
is  impossible.  I  ask  all  who  have  been  good  enough 
to  furnish  letters  or  other  material,  some  of  which, 
owing  to  exigencies  of  sp|pe,  it  has  not  been 
possible  to  make  use  of,  tO  accept  my  gratitude. 
Two  friends,  however,  in  addition  to  Dr.  Moule 
have  helped  so  greatly  to  make  the  book  what  it 
is  that  it  would  be  less  than  justice  not  to. name 
them— Mr.  James  E.  Mathjeson  and  the  Rev.  G.  A, 
Johnston  Ross. 

p.   C  MACGREGOR 


Wimbledon,  is/  October,  1900. 


■I 
'%- 


^ 


if- 


■Chapter  II 


Ferintosh 


I 


■  •   -  H-       •  ' 


•       -    .-  •" 


15 


CHAPTER  III 


College  Years 


•  '  • 


31 


CHAPTER  IV 
I  Believed,  and  therefore  have/iX^poken 


CHAPTER  V 


Aberdeen  Ministry 


49 


71 


CHAPTER  VI 
,        Aberdeen  Ministry  {continued)   . 


87 


*  » 


Contents 


CHAPTER  1 
What  THE  World  Saw; 


fAGB 

3 


h 


f4 


\ 


X  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  VII  ' 
A  New  Secret  of- Power    ■.      .       •      •• 

¥'-  ■■'      '■  '  ■■  ■         ■  '     ""■  ■  ■■■'     ■■' 

f  CHAPTER  Vin 

Keswick  :  the  Recollections  of  a  Friend    .       .    1.27 


QHAPTER  IX 


In  London 


■^. 


W 


CHAPTER  X 
The  Passion  for  Souls       .      v 


•    *6s 


CHAPTER  XI 


Pastor  and  Ti^cher 


.    183 


CHAPTER  XII 


American  •  Journeys 


.   2o5 


CHAPTER  XIII 
In  THE  Missionary  Cause   .      .    ^ 


•  •. 


221 


CHAPTER  XIV 

Beloved,  yield  thy  Time  to  Gt)D     » 

-■■■■■■■  .-■■'  "■■.■■■;':•     ■■     ' L 


'  •       .   ■  • 


239 


^MiiMlM 


MNilMM 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  XV 


The  Last  Years     . 


•  •  •  • 


CHAPTER  XVI 
On  TO  THE  doSE     . 


•f  .  ■. 


CHAPTER  XVII 
His  Works  DO  Follow  Him       . 

Index       .  ;   .       .    •  .       .       . 


•  • 


f  • 


XI 


rAcit 
«55 


'.    269 


.    287 


295 


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WHAT  THE  WORLD  SAW 


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CHAPTER  I 


./ 


What  the  World  Saw 


WE  who  knew  him  need  no  description  of 
George  Macgregor.  The  tall,  wiry  figure, 
so  instinct  in  every  nerve  with  life,  the  earnest,  ap- 
pealing voice,  the  frank,  cordial  smile,  all  live  in  the 
memory  of  thousands ;  and  there  are  very  many  who 
owe  to  him  the  greatest  of  all  debts,  because  his 
words  were  ,the  means  of  turning  them  to  God,  or  of 
summoning  them  to  a  higher  life.  During  the  last 
few  years  of  his  brief  ministry  there  were  perhaps  not 
many  religious  tochers  in  England  who  In  certain 
circles  exerted  a  greater  influence.  At  Keswick 
especially,  and  in  the  many  conventions  all  over  the 
country  organized  after:  the  Keswick  model,  he  was 
one  of  those  who  not  only  are  listened  to  with 
pleasure,  but  whose  wctrds  invariably  guide  and  help.° 
But  the  impression  of  a  life  soon  fades.  Another 
generation,  that  did  hot  know  him,  wiU  soon  ask,  at 
the  niention  of  his  name,  who  and  what  was  he? 
But  |he  life  we  knew  ought  not  to  be  forgotten.  It 
has  lessons  for  our  own  day  and  for  some  time  to 


I 


*v 


1  GEOICGE   H.  C.  MACGREGOR 

comd  Some  record  of  hU  lifcstory.  accordingly,  is 
here  to  be  attempted.  And  first,  a  brief  general 
answer  to  the  question,  What  the  world  saw. 

•  .    - •      .     ' ■"  '■■*■■'  '         »  ■   ' 

Some  lives  tell  upon  the  world  through  a  long 
continuance,  and  some  by  a   brief   intensity.     In 
Christian  biograj)hy  there  are  outstanding  examples 
of  both ;  Wesley-is  a  type  of  the  first,  and  McCheyne 
of  the  second.    George  Macgregor's  life  belongs  to 
the  latter  class,  and  the  parallel  with  McCheyne  is 
one  that  naturally  occurs  to  the  mind.    There  was, 
indeed,  a  marked  likeness  between  the  two  men, 
apart  from  the  common  fact  of  the  shortness  of  their 
days.    Physically,  there  was  a  certain  resemblance  in 
the  spare,  straight  figure,  and  the  look  of  purpose  and 
decision.     But  the  real  likeness  lay  in  deeper  mat- 
ters ;  in  the  concentration  of  the  whole  life  upon  one 
thing,  and  the  passion  for  winning  souls.     It  would 
not  be  easy,  perhaps,  to  find  two  men,  parted  by  an 
interval  of  half  a  century,  who  were  spiritually  more 
closely  akin  than   these  tWo.    They  preached  the 
same  Gospel,  and  they  looked  on  life  with  the  same 
eyes.    No  doubt  McCheyne  ^iossessed  certain  gifts, 
poetic  and  artistic,  to  which  George  Macgregor  had 
>  no  claim;  and  his  type  of  character,  according  with 
his    physical   constitution,  was   perhaps  more  pre- 
/  dominantly  gentle  and  tender.    But  each  was  a  gift 
of  God  for  the  work  of  the  Church  in  his  own  day ; 


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WHAT  THE  WORLD  SAW  $ 

and  the  firmer  and,  In  some  aspects,  possibly  the 
sterner  character  was  doubtless  needed  for  the  busy 
and  crowded  life  of  the  close  of  the  century. 

The  first  thing  that  struck  you  about  him  was, 
Here  is  a  man  intensely  alive.  He  had  great  powers 
of  enjoyment,  and  threw  himself  heart  and  soul  into 
everything.  To  some  who  never  heard  him  preach 
he  preached  by  his  vigour  and  animation  during  a 
holiday,  and  by  the  evidence  he  gave  that  a  life  of 
consecrated  service  was  a  happy  and  delightful  life. 
His  great  physical  strength  and  exuberant  energy 
were  a  .jiecessity  for  the  work  he  had  to  do.  Many 
notll^  examples  of  Christian  devotion,  such  as 
Brainerd  and  Kirke  White,  have  been  very  delicate, 
and  the  story  of  their  patience  and  of  the  wonderful 
work  done  under  crushing  physical  difficulties  is 
always  moving.  But  when  the  body  is  feeble  the 
spirit  is  apt  to  be  morbid  ;  and,  for  young  people 
especially,  the   invalid    type  of   Christianity,  over- 

:  shadowed  by  the  thought  of  death,  and  lacking  the 
joy  of  existence,  is  anything  but  attractive.  A  man 
with  the  frame  of  an  athlete,  whose  clear,  bright  eye 
and  hearty  tones  and  swift  springy  step  tell  of 
abounding  vitality,  is  \h6  kind  of  speaker,  and  the 
kind  of  example,  they  like.  Here,  then,  was  a  man 
who  could  apparently  go  through  any  amount  of 

■|l  work  without  being  tired,  who  would  throw  himself 
^^Kito  any  game  with  the  zest  of  a  schoolboy,  who 


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J  GEORGE   H.  G.  MACGREGOR 

would  cycle  sixty  or  eighty  miles  any  day,  and  go 
back  to  his  work  without  turning  a  hair,  who  was  the 
life  of  any  circle  he  mingled  with,  whose  look  of  ^^ 
buoyant  health  and  vigour  made  people  turn  to  look 
at  him  ir>  the  street.'  Mms  sana  in  corpon  sano. 
People  like  to  look  at  a  live  human  being  like  this, 
and  they  listen  to  his  utterances  with  a  special 
respect.  j' , 

His  mental  gifts  were  like  those  of  his  body— 
str«igth,and  speed,  and  all-round  adaptability.     He. 
was  not  ^  original  thinker,  but  he  was  a  diligent  and 
appreciative^  student  of  the  best  thought  of  others. 
His  mind  may  not  have  been  of  the  deepest  or 
widest,  but  it  was  intensely  clear,  and  Its  processes 
astonishingly  rapid.     What  he  saw  and  knew  he 
jgrasped  and  did  not  fumble  with,  and  what  he  knew 
himself  he  cpuld  always  make  luminously  plain,  be- 
yond all  possibility  of  doubt  or  misunderstanding,  to 
others.    His  mind,  moreover^  was  not  only  an  active 
and  vigorous,  It  was  also  a  well-stored  one.    Looking 
at  the  vast  amount  of  public  work  that  he  did,  one 
wondered  sometimes   how  he  could  6nd  time  for 
reading;  and  perhaps  some  who  have  no  idea  how 
much  a  determined  man  can  put  into  the  day's  work, 
settled  In  their  owa  minds  that,  now  he  was  such  a 
busy  man,  Macgregor  never  read  at  all.    But  those 
who  knew  better  could  tell  a  differeivt  tale,  and  the 
record  in  each  year's  diaty,  merely  a  bare  list  of 


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WHAT  THE  WORLD  SAW 


books  read,  and  the  dates  when  they  were  begun  and 
finished,  shows  the  energy  and  resolution  with  which 
he  kept  his  work  up  to  date.  The  same  swiftness 
and  momentum  that  belonged  to  him  in  everything 
was  seen  here ;  he  drove  his  way  through  large  and 
difficult  books  in  a  surprisingly  short  time.  In  the 
case  of  lighter  reading,  novels,  for  instance,  of  which 
he  read  a  fair  number,  he  would  often  finish  a  book 
at  a  single  sitting.  To  be  widely  read,  indeed,  he 
made  no  claim.  I  daresay  he  did  not  carie  much  for 
what  IS  called  general  culture.  What  he  knew  was 
never  obtruded;  there  was  nothing  in  his  ordinary 
conversation,  nor  perhaps  in  his  sermons  and  ad- 
dresses, to  indicate,  except  in  regard  to-  Biblical 
scholarship,  thlat  h(^|(;new  a  great  deal  more  than 
other  people.  Yet  no  one  could  be  long  in  his  coitt^ 
pany  without  being  conscious  of  a  certain  power,  and 
all  who  were  thentselves  students  admired  the  sinewy 
strength  and  the  sound  furnishing  of  hi^  mind. 

But  the  foremost  impression  with  every  one  who 
knew  or  talked  with  George  Macgregor  from  hia 
student  days,  was  that  of  a  minister  of  Christ.  That 
was  what  he  lived  for,  and  to  it  everything  else  was 
subordinated.  With  his  usual  clearness  he  saw  that 
a  choice  niust  be  made,  and  with  his  own  resolute 
decision  he  made  and  kept  to  it.  "  A  man  has  only 
qnt  life,"  he  said  when  he  accepted  the  call  to 
London,-  and  this  he  chose  for  his  life,  to  preach  the 


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Gospel  of  Cl>riftt#  «Praj|k     ^i>  one  could  be  long 
with  him|Witjfi|t  Sfcfflfl' this.     It  was  always  first 
Not  that  h«4J|W»t''f^*-''"»"'  *o  ^^^^^  things,     lie  was 
an  cariftst  student,  aticf  loved  his  books.     He  was  a 
dcctdfed  politician,  and  interested  in  all  the  currents 
of  the  national  life;  every  important  item,  for  in- 
stance, in  thi'war  news  of  last  winter  and  spring  is 
noted  in  his  private  journal,  and  friends  who  talked 
with  him  during  these  days  were  struck  with  his 
broad  and  statesmanlike  view  of  the  whole  situation, 
lie  would  talk  with  zest  of  such  matters,  or  of  travel, 
or  of  the  last  new  book  ;  but  bef6re  long  the  conver- 
lation  would  work  round  to  the  great  object  of  his 
life,  and  there  continue  and  end.    This  made  some 
complain  of  him,  at  times,  as  a  man  with  but  one 
idea.     More  than  that,  it  sometimes  looked  as  if  even 
re  not  qui^c  free  from  the  tendency,  often  seen 
mgeli^MjIlo  tStllf  a  good  deal  about  his  own 
woTR.     But  those  who  saw  deeper  knew  that  it  was 
not  really  so.    No  one  could  be  more  really  humble. 
It  was  only  that  his  life-work  so  absorbed  him,  that 
it  could  not  long  remain  in  the  background.    For 
outward  recognition  of  it,  in  the  vmy  of  any  sort  of 
tribute  to  himself,  he  cared  absolutely  nothing,  and 
never  mentioned  these.     It  positively  pained  him  to 
have  any  mere  compliments  repeated.     His  one  aim 
was  to  win  men  and  women  to  God,  and  to  call  those 
who  were  in  Christ  already  to  enter  into  a  deeper 


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tnd  doscf  fellowship  with  Him.    fur  time 
few  men  more  entirely  con»|«r«ted  K^  this^ 

my  have  !i|fekcn  of, 
iiliDf  the  Presence 


The"  secret  of  it  was,  ^at 
his  pf*)fouml  and  overmiaterin 
and  tilic  Call  of  God.     "1   h»i 


itoni^jn  any  one,"  wfitcf 


r^er  seen  it  to 
k.    ''His  life  was 
icTlived  in  the  presence  of  h|^pBi  tFanwwHT 
ever  caiwe  into  close  contact  with  Im  without  feelinf 
the  power  of  that  Presence,  and  sJLo  one  ever  came 
Away  quite  the  same  alfterwards;' That  one  word, 
Raddoni,  My  Master!  on  which  hi  so  often  spoke, 
the  text  of  his  memorable  sermon  «t  the  Christian 
Endeavour  Convention  at  Belfast,  wm  the  key  to  his 
whole  career.     To  that   Heavenly  jAitcr  he  had 
absolutely  turrendered  himself.     HetK  his  bright- 
ness and  joyfulness ;   hence,  too,  his  calm ;   hence, 
also,  which  i  not  a  small  thing,  the  sustained  serious- 
ness*  and  eleiption  of  tone  in  all  his  public  addresses. 
<•  He  always  came,"  says  or^  who  has  had  peculiar 
experience  of  large  general  "meetings,  "as  a  mes, 
scnger  from  God.     He  nev6r  joked,  or  wasted  timc^ 
in  commonplaees,  but  went  direct  to  his  subject,  and^ 
lifted  up  the  aldience  with  him."     He  lived  as  a  man 
set  in  trust  with  the  Gospel ;  and  the  Gospel  was  to 
him  not  only  the  strongest,  but  the  most  joyfiit  and 
absorbing  thing  in  the  world. 
^     He  was  deeply  sympathetic,  and*  could  be  very 
tender.    Perhaps,  however,  he  was  not,  on  the  whole. 


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10      '       GEORGE   H.  C  MACGREGOR        ^ 

of  the   gentler    type  of  sainthood;    the    type   of 
Fenelon,    or   Keble,    or   Miss    Havergal,    to   name 
representatives  from  differing  schools.     His  was  a 
stronger  and  more  masculine  type,  such  as  one  sees 
in  Samuel  Rutherford  or  John  Henry  Newman.    At 
times  there  was  even  noticeable  in  him  a  certain 
asperity,  something  that  suggested  that  the  strong 
Wine  of  a  strong  character  had  not  had  time  wholly 
to  settle  and  clarify.    But  it  was  mellowing  apace  in 
these  last  years.    Though  his  temper  was  naturally 
impatient,  he  had  acquired  a  fine  calmness  amid  the 
innumerable  interruptions  of  his  bu^y  life,  and  his 
views  on  all  subjects,  men  and  thiiigs,  were  ^aii^l^g 
in  breadth  and  maturity,    While  he  was  becomirig  an 
ever  more  noted  and  influefttial  speaker  at  Keswick 
and  other  cohventions,  he  was  also  year  by  ye^ir  a 
truer  and  more  helpful  friend.    "Full  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  and  of  faith,"  he  was,  as  thousands  to  whom 
his  preaching  was  blessed  can  testify;  it  is  almost 
higher  praise—for  there  is  always  a  risk  that  so  much 
public  ministry  may  somewhat  starve  the  home  and 
the  inner-  life-that  we  can  say  of  him  with  such 
emphasis,  what  is  also  said  of  Barnabas— «  He  was  a 
good  man."  .. 

Thus  he  did  his  work  and  finished  his  course  in 
these  closing  years  of  our  busy  century,  and  then 
was  suddenly  called  away.  The  lesson  of  a  life,  so 
swift,  so  intense,  so  devoted,  ought  not,  one' feels^  to 


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WHAT  THE  WORLD  SAW 


II 


be  forgotten.  For  ministers  of  the  G^gtel,  in  par- 
ticular, and  for  young  men  and  womenFthis  brief 
career  speaks.  It  is  always  well  for  us  when  our 
examples  of  consecration  have  not  to^be  sought 
in  far-6flf  centuries,  amid  conditions  of- life  widely 
different  from  ours,  but  may  be  seen  in  our  own  midst, 
among  those  who  are  bearing  the  same  burdens  and 
wrestling  with  the  same  problems  as  ourselves.  It 
assures  us  afresh  that  God  is  not  the  God  of  the 
dead,  but  of  the  living.  And  here  among  ourselves 
was  one  whose  life-motive,  amid  all  the  complex 
conditions  of  modern  life,  was  as  clear  and  simple  as 
ihsit  oi St  VauV:  This  one  tAin£^/ do. 


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CHAPTER  II 
Ferintosh 


THE  parish  of  Urquhart  or  Ferin^teli  lies  in 
Eastern  Ross-shire,  in.  the  north-west  part  of 
the  beautiful  peninsula  called  the  Black  tsle,  which 
extends  between  the  Cromarty  and  the  Beauly 
Firths,  The  Free  Church  and  manse  are  pleasantly 
situated  on  the  gentle  slope  of  the  hill,  looking  over 
the  water  where  the  ferry  crosses  to  Dingwall,  and 
beyond  to  the  huge  mass  of  Ben  Wy  vis, , with  the 
jagged  Scuir-na-Voulin  and  the*  Strathconon  moun- 
tains closing  in  the  view  to  the  west.  The  prospect 
.is  northerly,  and  the  trees  planted  to  shelter  the 
house  from  winter  storms  now  almost  hide  it  from 
view.  But  for  half  a  century  the  spot  has  been 
pointed  out  to  many  a  visitor  as  the  later  scene  of 
the  labours  of  Dr.  John  Macdonald,  the  "  Apostle  of 
the  North,"  and  to'many  it  possesses  now  a  not  less 
tender  interest  as  the  birthplace  of  George  Macgregor. 
He  was  born  on  the  14th  of  June,  1864^  the  sixth 
child  and  fourth  son  of  the  Rev,  Malcolm  Mac- 
gregor.   His  father,  who  succeeded  Dr.  Macdonald 

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GEORGE  H.  G.  MACGREGOR 


as  Free  Church  minister  of  Ferintosh  in  1850,  was 
the  oldest  son  of  John  Macgregor,  a  crofter  and 
small   builder   at   Fearnan    on  Loch   Tay  side,  in 
Perthshire/  Old  John  Macgregor  was  a  somewhat 
remarkable  man.    For  ordinary  business*  he  had  too 
much  of  the  dreaminess  of  the  Celt,  and  was  too 
sanguine  and  too  unworldly  to  be  very  prosperous. 
But  he  had  a  passion  for  education,  and  beginning 
with  th6  building  at  his  qwn  cost  of  a  humble  school- 
house  for  his  little  hamlet,  he  lived  to  see  all  his  five- 
sons  enjoy  a  university  education  and  qualify  them- 
selves for  learned  professions.    For  this,aflbition  of 
his  he  had  often  to  stand  a  little  raillery  from  his 
neighbours.      The  gibe    of  a    neighbouring  parish 
minister,  a  man  of  no  great  earnestness,  is  still  re- 
membered.   "Is  it  true,  John,"  he  said  to  the  honest 
builder  one  day,  "  that  yqu're  sending  all  these  boys 
of  yours  to  study  for  the  ministry ? "    "Yes,  sir;  I 
hope  to  do  it,"  was  the  answer.    "  Hoots  J "  said  the 
minister;  "you'd  far  better  thatch  the  houses  with 
therri!"    ■;.■;   . -V;  ■./. :".    '  ■■  •  ■.-.■■,-■ 

The  charming  reminiscences  of  "Old  Highland 
Days,"  by  the  late  Dr.  Kennedy,  of  Stepney,  recently 
published  in  the  Leisure  Hour,  seem  to  give  the 
very  atmosphere  of  simple  hon^e-lifein  Breadalbane 
seventy  or  eighty  years  since.  But  Dr.  Kennedy  , 
probably  left  the  district  too  young  to  do  full  justice 
to  the  spiritual  depth  ancUbeaiity  of  character  often 


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found  amid  those  humble  surroundings.    Old  John 
Macgregor's  wife,  Christina  Campbell,  was  a   most 
saintly  woman.    Her  gentleness  and   prayerfulnesa 
are    still    very  vividly    and    tenderly    remembered, 
though  nearly  forty  years  have  passed   since  she 
entered   into   the   King's    presence.      In    her    son 
_:  Malcolm  were  found  the  chief  characteristics  of  both 
his  parents.    At  college  he  was  a  diligent  student, 
and    became   a  sound   scholar.      In    the    Divinity 
•  Hall,  too,  he  was  known  for  his  devoutness,  a  true 
man  of  prayer.     He  did  not  fulfil  as  a  preacher,  in 
after    life,  the    promise    of  his    early   days.      But 
throughout  his  ministry  of  nearly   forty  years  his 
work,  as  good  judges  testify,  was  always  solid  and 
edifying,  and  his  memory  will  -(ong  be  cherished  in 
Ferintosh  as  that  of  a  kindly  and  faithful  pastor  and 
a  good  man.  • 

Mr.  Macgregor's  first  wife  was  Johanna  Robertson, 
youngest  daughter  of  Alexander  Robertson,  of 
Thurso,  sometime  Lieutenant  in  the  79th  regiment, 
the  Cameron  Highlanders.  Lieutenant  Robertson 
had  some  eventful  experiences  in  the  Peninsular 
War,  to  which  he  proceeded  with  his  regiment 
about  i8ii.  He  was  present  at  Salamanca,  was 
wounded  ^t  Vittoria,  but  was  able  to  take  part  in 
the  battle  of  the  Pyrenees,  and  in  the  passage  of  the 
r^ivelle.  The  last  of  these  finished  his  campaign- 
ing.   He  was  so  severely  wounded  that  he  had  to  be 


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GEORGE   H.  C.  MACGREGOR 


sent  home,  and  eventually  to  retire  from  the  service. 
He  had,  however,  been  twice  mentioned  in  dispatches, 
and  his  services  and  bravery  were  not  forgotten.     In 
London  he  had  an  audience  of  the  Prince  Regent, 
and  also  of  the  Duke  of  York,  then  Commander-in- 
Chief,  out  of  which  came,  years  afterwards,  the  oflfer 
of  a  conimission  for  6ne  of  his  sons,  who  attained  in 
due  time  some  rank  in  the   Indian   Army.    Miss 
Johanna  Robertson  was  something  of  a  beauty,  and 
greatly  admired,  and  many  of  her  friends  were  sur- 
prised at  her  marrying  t,he  grave  minister  of  Ferin- 
tosh.     Her  brightness  and  natural  gaiety  brought  a 
new  life  into  his  home. '  Her  surviving  children's  re- 
collections of  her  are  all  bright.    To  her  son  George, 
who  was  only  four  years  old  when,' in  1868,  she  died 
at  the  age  of  thirty-three,  she  was  only  a  dream-like, 
beautiful  memory;  but  the  elder  ones  have  a  vivid 
Remembrance  of  her  tender  love,  as  well  as  of  her 
lively  spirits  when,  in  spite  of  delicate  health,  she 
played  and  sang  and  romped  with  them.    "  I  am 
a  great  believer  in  joy,"  said  her  son  on  one  occasion. 
This,  and  the  shining  look  on  his  face,  he  inherited 
from  his  mother. 

She  gave  her  fourth  son  the  name  of  George 
Hogarth' Carnaby,  after  his  great-uncle,  who  had 
been  an  officer  in  the  Middlesex  Militia.  These 
military  relatives  were^among  the  heroes  of  his  boy- 
hood, and  it  is  no  wonder  that  there  was  so  much  of 


'■■/■■ 


:■■■¥ 


•  ■■    -ti 


FERINTOSH 


»9 


the  soldier  spirit  in  him.  A  drum  or  a  military  band 
always  stirred  him  ;  the  drilling  or  marching  of 
soldiers  was  one  of  the  things  that  would  at  any  time 
attract  him  for  a  little  from  his  books ;  and  though, 
with  his  thirst  for  knowledge  of  all  sorts,  he  liked 
to  hear  experts  in  any  line  of  life  discussing  their 
own  subjects — engineers,  barristers,  or  medical  menf— 
what  he  really  enjoyed  most,  outside  his  own  pro- 
fession, was  the  conversation  of  oflficers.  On  both 
sides  his  blood  was  purely  Celtic,  and  he  shewed 
through  life  the  Celtic  combination  of  qualities, — 
poetry  and  mysticism,  with  a  peculiar  energy  and 
dash.  The  praefervidum  ingenium,  so  often  spoken 
of,  has  seldom  been  more  strikingly  illustrated  in  our 
day  than  In  the  intense  and  devoted  life  of  this  son  of 
a  Ross-shire  Manse. 

The  Impressionable  boy  grew  up  amid  surroundings 
well  fitted  both  for  the  awakening  and  the  fostering 
of  the  deepest  impressions.  Ferintosh  is  associated 
with  much  that"  Is  memorable  and  precious  in  the 
religious  history  of  the  Highlands.  The  ministry, 
first  of  the  saintly  Charles  Calder  ( 1774-18 12),  and 
then  of  the  mighty  Dr.  John  Macdonald  (1813-1849), 
made  the  parish  a  great  religious  centre  for  three- 
quarters  of  a  centuiy.  The  labours  of  Charles  Calder 
seem  now  a  very  far-off  tradition,  but  from  the  brief 
notices  of  the  Days  of  the  Fathers  in  Ross-shire^  ^nd 
other  testimonies  of  the  generatiqai  that  followed  him, 


i6 


GEORGE   H.  C.   MACGREGOR 


M 


Wr' 


(I 

Ijt  is  possible  tjd  gather  a  tolerably  clear  conception  of 
the  mai\^nd  his  work.     His  preaching  was  not  oratory 
like  that  of  his  successor.     It  was  merely  the  crystaU 
clear  fyesentation  of  truth,  so  exquisitely  simple  that 
the /lidjjhblest  could  understand,  and  enforced  by  a 
life  ^ijpjlhining  saintliness.    A  later  generation  saw 
the  sajtie  type  repeated  in  his  grandson.  Dr.  Charles 
Mackintosh,,  of    Tain    and    Dunoon. V    McCheync, 
Moody  Stuart,  George  Macgregor  himself— in  all  of 
them  there  was  much  ^that  resembled  this  Highland 
master  in  Israel  of  a  hundred  years  since,  with^his 
.lucidity  in  exposition,    and    his    holy  life.      Very 
solemn  were  Mr.  Calder's  appeals  to  the  conscience, 
searching,' and  strict  his  dealing  with  the  inner  life. 
The  introspection  which  has  always  been  characteris- 
tic of  Highland  piety  was  carried  by  him,  indeed,  to 
a  morbid  extreme.    As  we  read  of  him,  we  are  some- 
times reminded  rather  of  Luther's  conflicts  with  the 
devil  than  of  his  Liderfy  of  a  Christian  Man.    Calder 
missed,  no  doubt,  much  of  the  brightness  and  joy^of 
life  iff  the  Spirit.   But  at  least  he  laid  ihe  foundations 
very  deep,    the  necessity  of  the  new  birth,  the  reality 
of  conviction  of  siri  and  of  repentance  the  glory  and 
efficacy  of  the  saving  work  of  Christ,  the  power  of  the 
Holy  Spirit— these  were  the  great  key-notes  of  his 
preaching;  and  doubtless,  as  his  epitaph  says,  many 
saints  of  God  rejoiced  in  his  light 
More  widely  famed  was  his  great  successor,  Dr. 


J 


^^•'^' 


FERINTOSH 


tt 


Macdonald.  As  a  pulpit  orator  he  must  have  ranked 
with  the  greatest,  with  Whitefield  and  Chalmers.  But 
the  name  commonly  given  him,  "  the  Apostle  of  the 
North,"  marks  a  higher  honour  still,  the  honour  of  the 
evangelist  and  soul-winner  at  a  time  when  in  wide 
tracts  of  country  the  gospel  was  i almost  unknown. 
From  the  very  beginning  of  his  Fcrintosh  ministry, 
Dr.  Macdonald's  |r|aching  seemed  to  be  attended 
with  blessing  whcMIr  he  came,  and  the  people  jour- 
neyed long  distances  to  hear  him  whenever  the  oppor- 
tunity offered.  It  was  then,  and"  still  is,  in  many 
Highland  parishes  the  custom  to  have  the  Communion 
only  once  a  year.  The  season  is  summer  ;  the  congre- 
gations meet  principally  in  the  open*;^;  and  the 
special  services  preceding  and  accompanying  the 
sacrament  last  for  five  or  six  days.  The  minister  of 
the  parish  is  assisted  by  honoured  brethren  from 
other  places,  each  of  whom  may  preach  a  number  of 
times,  the  whole  forming  a  sort  of  religious  conven- 
tion to  which  hundreds^  sometimes,  thousands,  throng 
from  far  aind  near,  and  where  souls  are  born  for 
eternity.  For  thirty  years  Dr.  Macdonald  spent  a 
great  part  of  every  summer  in  taking  part  in  such 
gatherings.  At  Ferintosh  itself  the  scene  of  these 
annual  meetings  was  the  famous  "Burn,"  a  natural 
amphitheatre  where  a  sma,ll  stream  issues  from  the 
wood,  and  grassy  sloping  bianks  recede  on  either  side. 
The  communion  table  is  spread  in  the  hollow,  where 


■•l-",;- 


•■;■  ■2[' 


ff 


:  GEORGE   H.  C.  MACGREGOR 


the  stream  was  long  ago  covered  In,  and  the  congre- 
gation, to  the  number  of  several  thousands,  are  seated 
on  the  slopes,  and  under  the  shade  of  birches  and 
alders.  These  solemn  services  still  continue,  and 
though  a  decreasing  population  and  changes  in  the 
people's  habits  have  diminished  the  numbers  who 
attend  them,  the  place  Is  still  to  many  the  gate  of 
Heaven.  ' 

Such  were  the  associations  an>kl  which  the  boy  was 
reared.  The  reality  and  greatndss  ,of  the  ispuufeual 
life  were  early  impressed  upon  him.  The  religion  of 
the  Highlands  has  been  much  criticised,  especially  by 
those  imperfectly  acquainted  with  it,  and  some  of  its 
defects  are  manifest  enough.  The  awe  and  mystery, 
for  instance,  with  which  the  Lord's  Supper  Is  sur- 
rounded have  often  this  effect,  that  in  a  large  parish 
there  is  only  a  handful  of  communicants,  and  these 
all  persons  past  middle  life.  Anxiety  rightly  to 
"  fence  the  table,"  and  to  enforce  the  diity  of  self- 
examination,  degenerates  into  a  kind  of  superstition. 
It  almost  seems,  in  some  instances,— or  did  so,  at 
least,  in  former  years, — as  if  younger  persons  were  not 
expected  to  enter  into  such  Covenant  with  God.  They 
might  look  on,  and  hope  and  pray  to  attain  to  it  some 
time,  possibly  before  they  grew  old;  but  that  was 
ail.  In  such  a  type  of  religion  the  truths  of  love  and 
joy  are  comparatively  in  the.background ;  and  Church 
life,  lacking  the  enthusiasm  and  energy  of  youth,  is 


V 


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FERINTOSU 


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neither  aggresstve  nor  progressive.  But  while  candour 
must  recognise  these  defects,  which  arc  intensified 
when  spiritual  life  grows  low,  It  must  acknpwledgc,  on 
the  other  hand,  that  nowhere  have  the  majesty  and 
glory  of  God,  the  completeness  of  Christ's  substitu- 
tionary work,  and  the  dignity  and  grandeur  of  life  iq. 
the  Spirit,  been  more  powerfully  set  forth  than  in  the 
Highlands.  In  George  Macgregor's  case,  there  were 
home  influences  at  hand  to  counteract  defects  in  the 
prevailing  type  of  religion.  His  father's  devout,  kindly 
heart,  and  wise  common  sense  saw  what  was  best  for 
his  children.  The  home  life  was  a  happy  one,  and 
the  Sabbaths,  despite  church  services  which  to  a 
modern  taste  would  seem  both  long  and  sombre, 
were  never  burdensome  or  unhappy  days.  Thic 
hymn  the  children  sang  expressed  what  they  all  felt-r 

O  the  Sabbath  morning,  beautiful  and  bright  I 
Joyfully  wik hail  its  golden  light,,  .     '         * 

All  the  gloomy  shadows-chasi^  f)J?  away, 
Bringing  us  the"  pleasant  day  1  • 

.^  'Tis  the  day  that  God  has  blessed  1  ^ 

Mr.  Macgregor's  teaching  and  influence,  too,  effectu- 
ally  dispelled,  at  least  for  his  own  household  and 
parish,' any  idea  that  the  religious  life  was  fcarcely  a 
thing  to  be  expected  of  the  young.  Among  his  own 
—children  there  was  much  early  grace,  and  those  who 
thus  found  the  Lord  he  did  not  hesitate  to  admit  to 
confess  Him  at  His  Table.    It  was  a  touching  and 


'f'^ 


\^'f*;-   M 


'^r- 


»  - 


II 


«4  GEQRGE  H.  C  MACGREGOR  ' 

beaudful  sight,  at  the  great  sufnmer  gathenngs  in  thb 
Burn,  when,  ahiid  the  solemn  silence,  or  the  plaintive 
Gaelic  singing  of  the  lOjrd  Psalm,  some  of  the 
minister's  sons  and ,  daughters  might  be  seen  taking 
their  places  at  the  table,  the  only  young  people  amid 
so  many  old  and  venerable.  There  were  farmers, 
cottars,  shepherds,  with  a  spririli^ing  of  substantial 
burghers'  tirid  professional  men  from  Dingwall  or 
Cromarty,  men  of  every  degree,  biit  all  of  mature 

*age;  and  there  were  matrons,  and  widows  with  snow- 
white  caps,  the  treasured  Bible  carefully  wrapped  in  a 
pocket  handkerchief,  with  a  sprig  of  lavender  oi*  rose- 
mary to  "  keep  the  place ";  and  theVe,  among  all 
these,  a  new  and  unexpected  element,  the  bright, 
grave  faces  of  a  younger  generation^  Surely  it  was 
a  sight  full  of  promise/and  of  hope.  But  who  could 
foresee  the  blessing  that  was  to  come  in  after  years 
from  that  early  decision,  and  that  e^rly  confessing  ot 
Christ?    "    "  i  • 

As  a  child,  Georgje  was  somewhat  delicate,  with  a 
high-strung  nervous' temperament  After  his  mother's 

^  early  death  he  was  brought  up  by  an  aunt  until  his 
father's  second  marriage  to  Miss  Jessie  Munro,  of 
Conon  Cottage,  in  1872.  The  little  boy  had  from 
the  first  a  thoughtful  and  enquiring  mind.  Some 
still  remember  his  sonorous  reading  of  an  occasional 
verse  at  family  woirship,  as  he  sat  on  his  father's  knee, 
when  five  years  old;  and  his  wise,  sententious  utter- 


:.33S.%^ 


FERINTOSH 


»S 


ances  made  the  other  children  call  him  "  the  pro- 
fessor." His  first  school  was  the  Free  Church  School 
of  the  parish,  a  field's  length  from  the  Manse,  where 
he  made  good  progress  under  the  teaching  of  the  late" 
Mr.  McDiarmid.  At  the  age  of  nine  he  was  sent 
with  an  elder  brother  to  Inverness,  and  attended  the 
Academy  for  five  years.  This  was  in  all  ways  an 
important  period  in  his  life.  The  stimulus  of  school, 
with  its  work  and  companionships,  was  essential  for 
a  nature  so  susceptible  and  eager  as  his,  and  the 
larger  life  of  a  considerable  town  developed  much 
that  might  have  lain  dormant  in  the  quiet  rural 
parish.  The  ministry  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Black,  of  the 
Free  High  Church,  at  once  interested  and  helped 
him,  and  the  minister  was  quick  to  recognise  the 
eager  and  thoughtful  young  listener.  "With  what 
pleasure  I  loolrback,"  writes  Dr.  Black,  "to  the  old 
days  when  the^erintosh  boys  attended  our  services; 
and  now  the  t\s^o  are  in  glory." 

The  five  years  in  Inverness  were  years  of  steady 
diligence  and  progress.  At  the  age  of  fourteen  he 
was  one  of  the  head  boys  of  the  school,  and  gained 
the  medal  for  mathematics.  He  was  so  proficient  in 
shorthand  that  he  had  already  gained  a  full  cer- 
tificate from  Sir  Isaac  Pitman's  Institute  at  Bath, 

rtifying  him  as  qualified  to  teach  the  system.    The 


cert 


knowledge  of  this  art,  possessed  by  comparatively 
few  professional  students,  though  almost  essential  for 


CJ>.- 


i6       GEORGE  H.  C.  MACGREGOR 

young  men  in  business,  stood  him  in  good  stead 
throughout  life.    AH  his  sermons  and  private  memo- 
randa are  written  in  shorthand,  and  when  he  pleased 
he  could  take  notes  of  anything  that  interested  him 
with  the  skill  and  ease  of  a  practised  reporter.    The 
certificates  of  his  masters  in  Inverness  lie  before  me 
as  I  write.    All  express  but  one  Opinion  of  ^im,  and 
in  almost  the  same  language.    "I  was  very  highly 
satisfied,"  says  the  Rector  of  the  Royal  Academy, 
Mr.  Eadie,  "with  his  diligence,  progress,  and  general 
conduct.      He  held    an  excellent  place   in   all  his 
classes,  and  in  his  last  session  gained  the  mathe- 
matical  medal     His  general  conduct  was  all  that 
could  be  desired,  and  he  iis  a  young  man  worthy-,  of 
every  encouragement."    The  fact  was,  the  boy  of 
fourteen  had  already  ^  man's  heart,  and  was  ready  to 
go  forth  bravely  to  face  the  world.    His  mind  was 
fully  made  up  on  the  subject  of  his  future  calling.    A 
relative,  who  was  struck  with  the  promise  he  shewed, 
offered  to  defray  his  college  expenses  if  he  would 
follow  the  study  of  law.    The  boy  had  to  give  his 
own  answer,  which  was  perfectly  decided :    many 
thanks  to  the  kind  friend  for  his  proposal,  but  he  had 
determined  to  be  a  minister.    Hut  how  about  the  cost 
of  the  education?  was  he  justified  in  refusing  an  offer 
which  would  so  greatly  relieve  his  father?    To  this 
his  answer  was.  that  he  hoped  to  do  as  his  father 
himself  had  done,  and  by  means  of  bursaries  and  ' 


'i    ■ 


Ak- 


!;■- 


FERINTOSH 


«7 


'i 


teaching  support  himself  through  college.  The 
golden  gates  of  his  childhood,  as  George  Eliot  says, 
were  early  closing  behind  him.  But  life  and  service 
were  beckoning,  at^d  he  was  eager  to  hasten  on 
with  his  tralnii;!^,  and  be  ready  to  do  something  for 
God.  ' :ri-  ■■■-■'■;.  ■■  ■ 


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COLLEGE  YEARS 


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CHAPTER  III 
College   Years 


<•  JJndoubWdly  to  study  and  prepare  myself  is 
my  %ief  duty  just  noMr."-^LeUef  to  his  Father. 


N.  thy -^nd  of  OctoberTl^T^ 

.  ;  eHt^r^d  the  University  of  Edinburgh  as  an  arts 
siudent.\  His^ge  was  fourteen  and  four  months.  In 
Scotland'  lads  have  airways  gone  to  fcollege  young, 
TOnrfetinjes  absurdly  so.  Dr.  Chalmers,  for  instance, 
(n  tHe  eind  of  last  century,  was  sent  to  St  Andrews 
before  he  was  twdve.  But  for  many  years  the  age 
bf  entrants  ha^  been  steadily  rising,  and  for  a  genera- 
ten  or  more  'i  student  of  fourteen  has  lieen  excep- 
tional. I^t  %io  one  imagine,  however,  that  the 
schoolboy  from  Inverness  Academy  was  unqualified 
for  university  work,  or  unable  to  profit  by  the  studies 
of  the  place.  In  those  days  the  course  necessary  for 
thfe  Master  of  Arts  degree  was  still  a  fixed  and 
unyaiyixig  thing.  Seven  subjects  of  examination  Were 
required :  Latfnj  Greek,  Mathematics-^the  Trtvium 
of  school  ^udies;  with  a  Quadrivium  of  new  work, 
Logic,    Natural    Phildsophy,  Ethics,  and   Rhetoric, 

J ^J-^^ : ^ 


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Sa.  GEORGE    H.  C    MACGREGOr" 

.     with  English  Literature.    TlSre  were  no  alternative 
courses  for  men  who  mighi  be;  devoid  of  any  mathe-' 
matical  turn,  or  for  those  wKb^  on  the  other  hand 
might  have  a  special  bent  for, science.    A  hmited 
number  went  in  for  Unours  in  one  or  more  of  the 
three  groups  into  which    the  seven  subjects  were 
divided,  but  no  one  could  receive  the  degree  whd  had 
m>t  passed  in  all  seveh.    Since  then,  Lord  KinheST 
Commission  has  made  thei§^gree  course  a  great  deal 
more  flexible,  and  there  are  now  a  score  bf  avenues 
open  for  studious  young  men  and  women  desirous 
of  writing  themselves  down  MA,  in  place  of  the 
one  narrow  entrance  of  older  days.    But  it  perhaps 
remains  to  be  seen  whether  the  new  system  will 
prove^equal  to  the  old  as  a  mental  discipfirre,  and  as ' 
a'preliminary  to  the  special  studies  of^he  learned 
projfessions.  :  ^ 

^F«  '"''"^WteGeo.Be^-MacgregorX  indeed,  a 
^Mer  training  .cc^d  scarcely  have  bein  devised 
He  was  too  rapid  and  too  practical  to  care  for.a  pro-' 
foun^  or  delicate  scholafthip.   With  all  his  splendid 
wdustq..  he  had  not.  perhaps,  the  particular-kind  of' 

pafence.  nor  the  power  of  selecting  »d  concentrating 
on  one  Ime  of  study,  which  are  needful  for  u,e 
specalfet  He  was  not  a -great  cla^ic,  nor  was  he  • 
a  metaphysician.  His  strongest  beat,  perhaps,  was 
mathen.at.cal  ^d  if  that  He^ditao.  leaning  towards 
the  army  had  had  its  way.  he  might  have  made  a    " 


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'  COLLEGE  YEARS  jj 

fine  officer  of  engineers.     But  his  heart  was  already 
set  on  a  different  course,  and  for  his  future  ministry 
his  college  training  was  invaluable.    The  variety  of 
studies,  all  pursued  with  diligence  and  vigour,  though 
in  no  case,  it  may  be,  carried  to  a  very  advanced 
point,  served  both  to  store  his  mind,  and  to  train  and 
sharpe;i  it  as  an   instrument    The  moral  develop- 
ment,   too,    of    these    college  years    was    not    less 
remarkable  than  the  intellectual.     Like  many  Scot- 
tish lads,  he  supported  himself  from  the  first  almost 
entirely    by    gaining    bursaries    and    by  "teaching. 
Thosp  quiet,  plodding  years  saw  the  formation  of 
habits  of  the  niost  determined  and  unsparing   in- 
dustry, of  a  rigid  accuracy  and  economy,  both  of 
means  and  time,  and  self-denial  that  became  a  second 
nature.   Out  ojf  such  a  training  grew  the  self-reliance, 
the    fearlessness,   and    the    strong    manh<K)d    that 
marked  hmi  in  after  years.         '  ^        Ji  ' 

He  lived  in  simple  lodgings  with  his  Wpther  Algc, 
three  years  his  senior,  who  was  studying  medicine. 
The  two  bright  young  Highlanders  had  no  lack 
of  friends,  but  they  had  no  leisure  to  accept  many 
tnvitations.  Their  business  was  to  work,  and  to 
make  the  most  pf  those  precious  years  and  the 
opportunities  which  would  not  return.  "  I  do  most 
thoroughly  believe  in  hard  work,"  George  wrote  to 
his  sister.  It  was  a  faith  which  he  carried  with  him 
through  life.    'Some  friends  thought  that  both  lads 

■        .  3 


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GEORGE   M,  C  MACGREGOR 


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perhaps  injured  their  health  by  the  intense  applica- 
tion of  those  Edinburgh  years.  But  this  is  doubtful. 
There  was  no  sign  of  weakness  or  feebleness  about 
either.  Both  became  tall  and  wiry  men,  of  excep- 
tional muscular  strefllgth  and  endurance.  Alec,  who 
was  fair,  while  George  was  dark,  was  perhaps  the 
handsomer  of  the  two,  but  both  were  figures  that 
"no  one  would  have  passed  without  remark." 

Entering  college  so  early»  George  Macgr^or 
wisely  made  no  attempt  to  hurry  c^er  his  course.  .  He 
took  five  sessions,  and  did  not  complete  his  degree 
until  April,  1883.  '"  every  class  Itst  his  name  is 
mentioned  with  distinction,  and  in  most  he  gained 
prices.  He  stood  six;th  in  Professor  Calderwood's 
Moral  Philosophy  class,  though  one  of  the  youngest 
students  there,  and  his  home  letters  show  the  keen 
interest  and  the  enthusiasm  With  which  he  followed 
the  Professor's  teaching  on  such  topics  as  the 
Conscience  and  the  Will,  and  his  expo^ion  of 
Kant,  Butler,  and  Edwards.  Irt  the  next  chapter  we 
shall  see  something  of  the  development  of  the  young 
student's  spiritual  life,  Tha^  this  was  bright 
warm  during  most,  if  not  all,  of  his  university 
course,  there  is  abundant  proof.  He  had  made  clear 
choice  of  his  life  calling.  He  was  to  be  a  minister 
of  the  Gospel  of  Christ ;  and  alrekdy  posisessed  at 
times  with  the  idea  that  his  life  was  to  be  a  short 
onPi  he  sometimes  longed  for  those  years  of  prepara* 


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COLLEGE  YEARS  „ 

tlon  to  be  over,  so  that  hfs  life  work  might  begin. 
In  such  circumstances,  some  earnest  young  men 
neglect  their  studies,  and  even  justify  their  doing  so 
on  the^ound  that^  heart  ought  to  be,  given  to 
the  .deepest  thing/  Our  student's  mln<l  was  too 
wise  and  well-balatUd  to  fail  Into  an/ such  error. 
He  Tcnew  his  duty,  and  did  .ft  with  all  his  might, 
while  remembering  that  study  Aiiist  be  le»vcncd  with 
devotion,  else  the  spiritual  iife*  will  grow  cold. 

In  a  packet  of  his  home  letters,  carefully  preserved 

and  docketed  in  his  father's  hand,  there  is  plentiful 

evidence  of  the  spirit  of  this  earnest  student.     In 

February,  r882,  he  writes  to  ask  his  father's  opinion  ' 

on  the  meaning  of  the  great  Christological  passage 

laPhffljiplan«ii.6,7.    "  If  we  accept  the  theological 

axiorti  re|raraing  Christ's  Incarnation, '  Remaining  all 

that  He  was,  He  became  what  He  was  not,'  how  is 

it/'^sthe  young  theblogian,"  that  our  Lord  Jesus 

:  ♦empti6«f  Himself'?"     His  father's  reply  has  not 

'  .  ■*^n  fou^d,  but  it  appears  to  have  been  satisfactory, 

.     for  a  fortnight  afterwards  the  son  thanks  him  for  it, 

.\  and  remarks  that,  looking  into  Owen  on  TAg  Person 

r  of  Christ,  he  finds  what  was,  perhaps,  not  surprising, 

thar^wen's  interpretation  of  the  word  " robbery" 

.  I    and  his  father's  agree.    lii  another  letter  he  mentions 

,       how  the  reading  of  Dr.  West^otfs  Tht  Biblftn    . 

_    Church,  \i7^  given  him  for  the  first  time  a  definite. 

Idea  of  the  formation  of  the  New  Testament  Canon. 


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GEORGE   H.  C.   MACGRfeGOR 


These  theological  excursions  reveal  the  bent  of  his 
mind,  and  the  region  where  his  dce|)eHt  intcrcnts  lay, 
but  they  were  never  allowed  to  encroach  on  the  time 
necessary  for  his  work  in  science  or  philosophy. 

To  his  Fathtr. 

--'  Miruary  ai.iSSj,— Perhaps  I  shall  be  put  down  as  a 
moraliser  on  the  (Vght  of  time,  but  I  cannot  but  be  struck 
when  I  think  that  in  a  month  and  a  half  thC!  session  will 
be  over,  in  two  months  my  university  course  finished,  and 
I  hope  my  degree  obtained.  When  time  is  89  valuable  and 
so  fleeting,  well  may  I  pray  :  Lord,  teach  me  to  number  my 
days.      I  should  like  to  say,  and  live  up  to  what  the  hymn 

says  :—■.,. 

.  Take  my  life,  and  let  it  be 

Consecrated,  Lord,  to  Thee    .    »   •      ♦. 
Take  myself,  and  I  will  be        * 
;3  Ever,  only,  all  for  Thee. 

,.'■■■         -^  ■  .'•'-.  ■  .'■■■■■ 

That's  how  I  would  like  to  live. 

V  February  33. — On  Wednesday  night  I  had  a  long  walk 
with  a  great  friend  of  mine.  He  is  a  very  nice  fellow,  and 
such  a  warm,  earnest  Christian  that  it  does  ifte  good  to  be 
with  him,  I  feel  very  much  the  need  of  Christian  friends 
V  and  Christian  fellowship  with  them,  for  this  int^sant  study 
is  so  apt,  in  me  at  least,  to  produce  coldness  «and  almost 
indifference.  It  tends  very  much  to  lead  away  from  our 
"first  love,"  unless  the  Lord  keep  us.  Undoubtedly  to 
study  and  prepare  myself  is  my  chief  duty  just  now,  but  I 
am  longing  to  get  the  harness  on,  and  get  into  active  work 
for  my  dear  Master.     I  know  not  when  I  shall  be  taken 

.aw«y,  but  tf  it  is  the  Lord's  will,  I  should  like  to  do  some 


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good  work  for  Him  here  before 'going  home.  What  a 
home,  "An  inheritance  incorruptible,  and  undcfiled.  and 
thai  fadeth  not  away  "I 

I  had  the  pleasant  duty  of  conducting  one  of  the  ward 
lervicei  in  the  Royal  Infirmary  last  Sabbath  morning.  I 
■poke  to  the  patients  on  the  grand  invitation,  Isaiah  Iv.  i, 
and  John  vl.  37,  saying  something  briefly  jibout  Him  Who^ 
gave  it,  the  freeness  of  the  invitation,;  and  the  terrible 
....dangec-of-'r-ttfusing'-'it'."'-"' — 


1^  '  I 


The  noxt  passage  refers  to  his  favourite  pro- 
fessor :  — 

On  Sabbath  evening  I  heard  Dr,  Calderwood  preach 
on,  "Come  over  to  Macedonia  and  help  us,"  so  that  I 
know  him  now  as  professor,  minister,  and  man.  He  is  at 
,  present  lecturing  on  '*  Moral  Disorder  in  our  Nature,"  and 
his  lectures  are  very  interesting.  I  watch  them  with  great 
interest  to  see  how  they  bear  on  the  Biblic^il  doctrine  of 
lliuman  depravity.  \i  is  very  instructive  looking  at  such 
things  from  the  two  point*  pf  view,  and  finding  philosophy  ^ 
confirming  Scripture.  This  I  believe  all  true  philosophy  ^ 
will  do.  A  thing  I  like  about  Professor  Calderwood  iV 
that  he  loses  nPopportqiiity  of  pointing  us  all  awfty  past 
man  and  nature  "up  to  nature's  God."  The  hush  that  is 
on  the  class-room  at  such  times  is  moist  impressive. 

But  ft  fa  In  the  pa^s  of  the  shorthand  journai 
that  the  deepest  record  of  his  inner  life  is  found. 
Sometimes  the  record  is  so  personal  and  sacred  that 
it  seems  like  profanation  to  open  up  this  inmost 
fellowship  of  a  soul  with  God.    But  for  other  students 


fT 


'^' 


38 


GEORGE   H.  C.  MACGREGOR 


J, 


IcspeciaUy,  and  for  us  all^  it  may  be  profitable  to  see 
how,  in  the  case  of  such  an  intensely  diligent  stu- 
dent, praying  and  working  went  together,  and  how 
the  busy  outward  life  had  its  constant  certtre  of 
peace  in  communion  with  his  Father  in  Heaven. 

'•■.'■■•■''.;:  JOURNAL;     ■■ '  i 

Wednesday^  April  4,  1883,— A  day  of  blessing  and 
.privil^e  to  me.  Felt  near  my  God  all  the  day.  I  wrought 
very  hard  in  the  mornings  and  went  over  »  veiy  great  deal 
of  work,  getting  a  thorough  hold  of  the  Inductive  Logic 
and  a  great  deal  of  Calderwood's  work.  Then  went  away 
to  the  class  at  noon.  We  got  the  result  of  the  last 
ejcamination.  I  was  very  much  surprised  and  delighted 
to  find  myself  second,  with  87  per  cent.  I  did  not  expect 
anything  like  this;  but  1  just  gave  my  most  hearty  thanks 
to  my  God- for  answering  prayer.  Lord,  enable  me  to 
give  heartily  whatever  power  or  talent  Thou  hast  given  me 
entirely  to  Thee,  and  use  it  for  Thee  altogether. 

Saturday,  April  'j.—AX.  9.10  saw  Alec  off,  the  last  of 
him  for  more  than  a  year,  perhaps  for  even  Thank  God 
he  is  saved,  and  will  meet  me  in'fiteaven.  O  God,  bless, 
him  and  make  him  a  blessing.  May  he  do  good  not 
only  to  thc|  bodies,  but  also  to  the  souls,  of  many  on 
the  ship. 

How  solenin  to  think  of  my  arts  course  being  finished. 
Five  years'  study  come  to  an  end.  Blessed  be  God  for 
His  goodness  to  me  during  it,  and  especially  for  His 
goodness  to  me  during  this  last  session.  I  must  yet  pray 
and  pray  and  pray  that  He  may  use  me  for  Hi$  glory, 
for,  unless  He  do  so,  my  life  will  be  useless.    '  ~ 


COLLEGE  YEARS 


39 


.^V/ay,  ytf/r/V  20.— The  crowning  day,  veritably  the 
end  of  my  arts  course.  I  rose  in  the  morning,  and  began 
packing.  At  11  went  to  the  Synod  Hall  to  the  graduation 
ceremonial,  and  was  capped  M.A.  The  degree  sought 
for  has  been  obtained  with  not  one  slip.  Oh,  how  thank- 
ful I  should  be  to.  God  for  His  great  goodness  !  The 
degree  sits  lightly  upon  me.  I  hope  I  have  already  laid 
it  at  the  Master's  feet;  it  will  do  little  good  if  not  given 
to  Him.  '  ;      ■ 


i^. 


His  degree  thus  obtained,  instead  of  proceeding 
next  autumn  to  the  New  College  to  begin  his 
divjnity  course,  he  resolved  to  spend  a  year  at  home. 
It  Vas  undoubtedly  a  wise  resolution.  Though  his 
Ijealth  was  not  actually  injured,  yet  the  incessant 

^Implication  of  these  five  sessions  had  been  a  heavy 
strain,. and  he  benefited  now  by  an  interval  of  work 
somewhat  lighter  and  of  a  different  kind.  It  proved 
also  a  fruitful  year  in  other  ways.  Part  of  each  day 
he  was  occupied  in  tutoring  the  sons  of  a  neighbour- 
ihg-iaird,  the  rest  he  gave  to  going  on  steadily  with 
his  own  reading.  It%iust  already  be  clear  enough 
that  he  was  not  the  kind  of  student  who  only  works 
when  under  the  stimulus  of  lectures  and  examina- 
tions. It  was  a  happy, circumstance  that  his  most 
intiinate  school  and  college  friend,  George  Johnston 
Ross,  now  the  mityster  of  St.  Paul's  PresbyteDijin 

\Church,  Westbourne  Grove,  had  also  a  tutorship 
that  winter  in  the  same  parish.    There  were  almost 


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GEORGE   H.  C.  MACGREGOR 


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JiTljr  meetings,  with  abundant  "heart  affluence  in 
discu^ve  talk."    Though  trained  in  the  same  curri- 
culum, ^id  looking  forward  to  the  same  great  work 
of  the  Cnristian  ministry,  the  two  friends  had  each 
his  own  idiosyncrasies.     In  some  respects  each  was 
almost  the  complement  of  the  other;  all  the.  more 
could    each   conti-ibute    something    to   the    other's 
intellectu^  an<^  spiritual  growth.    But  the  most  im^ 
portant  fact  of  that  winter  vg^the  beginning  of 
what  may  be  called  a  definfflHKenticeship  for 
his  future  work.     To  assist  h^fli^r,  the  young 
graduate  began  rf  Bible  class,  which  steadily  grew 
till  \it    numbered   nearly   loo.      He  held  meetings ' 
weeldxjn  schoolhouseS  and    other  places  up  and 
down  the  wide  parish,  and  even  occasionally  occu-. 
pied  his  father's  pulpit  or  the  pulpits  of  neighbouring 
ministers.    The  singular  power  that  in  after  years 
swayed  vast  audiences  at  once  begafl  to  manifest 
itself.     There    could  not,  in  any  case,  be  a  more 
critical    judge    than  a  fellow-student,  nor  a    more 
competent  one,  in  this  case,  than  Mr.  Ross,  and  he 
gives  it  as  his  deliberate  opinion  that  George  Mac- 
gregor  never  surpassed  some  of  the  addresses  de- 
livei;ed  to  a  few  poor  cottars  and  crofters  that  winter 
in  the  parish  of  Ferintosh.  v 

The  Free  Church  of  Scotland  reqpiires  of  aspirants 
to  the  ministry  a  theological  course  of  four  years 
after  the  completion  of  the  university  curriculum. 


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COLLEGE  YEARS 


4« 


This  training  GreopgCMacgregor  reqeived  at  theTJew  ' 
College,    Edinburgl^  during  the    years    1884-1888*  \^ 
Here  his  course  was  6ne  of  the  highest.  (Hstitjiction. 
In  a  class  including  an  unusuab-fiumbe'r  of  able  men 
he  obtained,  at  the  close  of  the  first  session,  the  first ' 
place  in  two  of  the  lectures  he  attended,  and  the 
second  place  in  Hebrew.    At  the  commencement  of. 
his  third  year  he  gained  the  highest  scholarship  open  ^ 
to  competition,  which  carried  with  it  the  post  of    J 
tutor  or  assistant  lecturer  in  Hebrew  for  the  following 
year.     In  the  exit  examination  at  the  close  of  his 
course^  after  kn  extremely  busy  winter,  and  amid  the 
anxieties  of  two  calls  to  the  nlinistry  which  were 
already  pressing  upon  him,  he  stood  second,  only  a 
fractional  difference  separating  him  frond  the  first. 
Year,  by  year  he  threw  himself  with  all  the  energy  of 
his  nature  into  those  congenial  studies.     All  who 
knew  him  speak  of  his  thoroughness.     His  Hebrew 
pointing,  for  instance,  was  about  as  nearly  'jf)erfect  ~ 
as  any  human  thing,  speaking    generally,  can  he. 
His  ability  and  weight  of  character  made  him  to  be 
looked  up  to  by  his  fellow^students,  and  in  his  last 
session  he  w'as  one  of  the  presidents  of  the  Theologi- 
cal Society. 

It  seems  to  have  been  during  his  university  course . 
that  he  passed  through  an  experience  referred  to  by 
himself  in  a  striking  letter  *  years  afterwards.    To 
*  See  p.  igoflf.,  letter  of  September  18,  1897. 


■h 


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GEORGE   H.  X:,  MACGREGOR 


•  V 


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,  -  •    * 

most    thoughtful    men  sohie  experience   of   doubt    , 

comes  during  those  years  of  study  and  enquiry,  and  > 
!n  a  nature  so  serious  as.  his»  with  an  uitderstanding 
'.  so  vigorous,  the  process.cbuld  not  but  bea^isearching 
,one.  ^  Jn,  the  Divinity  Hall,  wher«  he  liad  to  study 
Scripture  evidence  and  cognate  matters  ^lnore  closely, 
q^stipnings  were  re-awakened  from  tim^e  to  time>; 
but  the  main  battle  had  been  .fought  and  worn  before.  ~ 
Perhaps,,  from  the  vantage  ground  of  the  strong, 
unshaken  faitl)  of  after  years,  he  paints  this  period 
of  scepticism  in  colours  somewhat  too  dark.     Those 
who  knew  him  .best,  knew  how.  essentially  posHive 
and  non-scejpticai  his  mental  habit  was.      A  con- 
dition o(  doubt  wias  to  him  intellectual  misery.     He 
must  have  certainty  for  his  rapid^  eager,  and;  before 
all  thiijg%  practical  miod.    A'man  b^tliis  typ^,'ortce 
the  old  unqfiestioriing^  certainty  is  disturbed  arany   \ 
point,  inei^tably  feels, as  if  the  whole  structure  fiad 
collapsed,  and  is  reduped  fqrthq  time  to  a  state\0f,    • 
intellectual  despair.     This  was  what  Jiappenepl  in 
George  Macgregor's  cas6.    One  truth,  which  to  him     - 
had  be^n  as  unquestionable  as  thegaw  ofgrayitatidn," ' 
was  rudely  shaken,  and  urjt^'l  it  Was  biylt  up  again 
on  a  surer  and  more  stable  foundation,  he  felt  as  if  in   "; 
utter  doubt  of  many  things.   BOt  a  sceptical  denier,  or  ' 
in  the  smallest  degree  hostile  to  anything  'Christian, .     * 
he  neveir  was.    Nor  did  he  himself,  perhaps,  regard 
the  matter  at  any  time  quite  so  gravely  as'  his  words 


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COLLEGE  YEARS 


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43 


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S^-i' 


migBt'  imply,  Oncvdoes  not  find  any  point  where 
the  way  to  tjiat  car^r,  which  for  ^eai®  h%d  lain  ; 
before' him  as  his  life' work,  s^med  closed ;  when  he 
feltlt  imppssiWe  that  he  should  ever  be  a  minister, 
of  the- feo^pei.  Only  i  some  time-Honoured  founda- 
tions \!<rere  gone,  and  the  fabric  must  be  recon- 
structed  from  its  base,— a  long  and.  laborious  task. 

i  was  trained  nip  |he  writes)  in  the  itrictest'  possible 
way  to' believe  in.  \the  {vebbal J  Inspiration  of  the  Bi|)le. 

nBut  "the  feith  that  was  the  result  of  this  training  ^ltter^y 
gave  way,  and  for  a  timq  I  lost  all  faith  in  the  Bible  as 

'  ihs|)ired.  I  became  an  utter  sceptic. '_  But,;  amid  a\l  my 
scep^cism  and  doubt,  there  was  one.  thing  that  I  couljcl 
nbt^dbubt.    That  was,  that  I  #as  not  What  I  pUght  to  "be. 

-t  was  ^Isinner.  Sin  wSis  a  fact  in  my  life.  It  was  the. 
disGOviSrJr  of  this  as  a  fact  that  led  me  back  to  the  Bible.' 
I'found  it  dealt  with  sin  as  no  other  book  did,  and  under* 

\  sjopd  -sin  as  no  ptKer  book  did.    Qtjiier  books  spoke  of 

•  ^il,  vice,  crime;;  this.of  siii.  *l%egan  to  see  that  the 
inspiration  of  the  BiblQ  did  not  lie  so  much  in  its  being  a 
miraculously  accurate  book,  as  in  its  being  a  ^tf<?^  wriV/^« 

from  God! s- point  of  view,   y  '  '       ,V    ,' 

■■    '  ''■.■■       • '.       v. '  r    .  •  -  "■.':  ■  ■  '^'".  ■': 

/'Thus,  "he  fought  his  doubts  and  gatherecl 
'  strength;''  Doubt  is  perilous  when  cpndiict  as 
well  as  belief  .is  made  an  open  question}  and  the 
'questioning  dissolving  intellect  is . accompanied  by 
'  a  careless  life,  trom  this  peril  ^Georgie  Macgregor 
ii    Was  preserved.    Though  perplexed  for  a  wWle' on 


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44   .  GEORGE   H.  C.  MACGREGOR 

many  points,  he  never  let  go  his  faith  in  God, 
or  his  effo^  to  help  others.  Prayer  and  reading 
the  Bible  were  not  less  but  more  precious  during 
these  days  of  darkness,  because  it  was  only  through, 
theiji  that  he.  could  hope  in  time  to  find  the  light 
again.  And  so,  in  time,  he  reachedit  H^  would 
ncit  again  make  for  Holy  Scripture  the  claims  Which. 


;*• 


a^  a  child,  h6  had  b^en  accustomed  to  hear  j  daims 
wWch  it  does  not  makfe  for  itself,  and  which  he  hadj 
rntid  that  the  facts  do  not  support.  But  he  had 
P0ved  it  gloriously  true  as  the  Word  of  God,  the 
jiscpvery  of  both  man's  need  and  God's  rem'edy 
^e  Book  in  which,  in  Dr.  Moule's '  striking  phrase! 
od  "  has  had  His  way "  from  first  to  last.  His 
raith  was  all  the  more  strong  and  precious  because 
It  had  not  been  gained  without  a^struggle, 'and  the 
fstrenuoi«  intellectual  labour  of  his  student  days  was 
turned  to  nal?le  account  in  his  future  ministry.     • 

The  lettersbf  this  period  sh^^j^ieof  the  after- 
undulations  of  the  storm  he  had,  passed   through 
In  his  outspoken  way  he  speali  his  mind  on  what 
be  considered  an  inadequate  hkndling  of  some  of. 
tbe  diflUculties  of  belief.         ' 


Sean 


■     ".  .    -        .    ■   ■" 

.*      »       ■  "■.  " 


^^a^i..  I88S.-I  do  notMikethis  way  of  treating    ' 
Apologetics.     It  has  almost  made  *some  of  us  irifidels      • 
jhing  mto  these  rationalistic  theories  of  the  Life  of  -   #. 

V  ^^        *  f^^»*'  Creator,  p.  53.  T^ 


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COLLEGE  YEARS 


45 


Christ' is  disagreeable  ^ofk,  and  one  raises  difficulties 
which  are  hard  to  settle.  This  writer  seems  sometimes- 
tQ  be  afraid  to  go  to  the  very  dregs  of  infidelity  in  his 
statement,  and  thi$  leaves  in  the  mind  a  vague  sense  of 
uneasiness  that  the  rationalists  havQ  not  been  answered. 
Still,  when  orft  has,  9S  I  have,  fought  these  difficultieis, 
not  as  mere  theory,  but  as  stern  reality,  as  matter  of  life 
and  death,  and  still  feels  the  "miry  cjay  ".  (^  doubt  and 
unbelief  clinging  to  him,  it  is  a  little  disagreeable  to  have 
to  go  into  the  battle*  again. 


}u^is  of 


Here  is  ohe  of  several  outbu,^ts  of  enthusiasfit 
over  the  illustrious  Professor  of  Hebrew  and  Old 
festament  in  the  New  College,  Dr.  A.  5.  Davidson. 

To  his  Sister. 

Dicembtr  ai,  1885. — Dr.  Davidson  is,  as  I  have  so  often 
said,  making  the  Old  Testament  a  new  book  to  me.  It  is 
becoming  to  me  so  much  more  Divine,  fny  belief  inc  its 
Inspiration  -  is  ten-fold  strengthened,  and  thiit  by  the  very 
inan  whom  a  large  number  of  our  worthy  people  wanted 
to  oust  from  his  chair  as  being  one  of  the  "higher 
critics,^'  for  the  dire  offence  of  seelping  to  find  the  truth 
ip  r^ard  to  the  people  of  God  and  His  revelation  to' them. 
On  Thursday  we  had  a  nAagnifiqent  lecture  from  him  on 
Elijah.  I(  was  simply  splendid.  It  was  almost  impossible 
to  take  notes.  We  just  sat  and  listened  entranced.  His 
style  18  so  exquisit^ '  just  prose  poetry,  and  the  thought 
is  so  deep  and  so'  instructive. 

,  *  In  the  end  of  March,  1888,  George  Macgregor  left 
thjB  New  College  a  welf-equipped  young  theologian. 


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GEORGE  H.  C.  MACGREGOR , 


He  possessed  a  ;good  deal  more  than  that  "<tecent 
and  resf)ec^ble  acquaintance  with  the  literature  of- 
his  profession,"  which  the  great  William  Cunninghanj 
used  to  urge  every  aspirant  to  the 'holy  ministry  to 
aim  at.  •  Especially  he  was  deeply  versed  in  the  Bible.  * 

^  He  had  read  the  Old  Testament  through  in  Hebrew. 
The  Greek  Testament  he  knew  intimately,  and  great 
portions  of  the  ErigUsh  Bible  he  could  literally  repeat^ 

^y  heart.    For  a  minister  of  Christ  there  is  no  learn- 
ing equal  in  value  to  this.     It  ii  a  profound  truth 
which  Dr.  Robertson  Nicoll  expresses  In  aphoristic  . 
form.    "  The  seed  which  grows  is  the  Word  o(^od. 
The  seed  which  does  not  grow  ia^e  wor<tof  man." 


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CHAPTBCR  IV 
I  Believed,  and  therefore  have  I  Spoken 

'*f  «™  longing  to  get  the  harneir  on,  and     * 
get  into  active  work  for  mV  dear   Master."— 
,    Utttr  to  his  FatluK 


''E  have  seen  the  home  influ^ncSlr^^mid  which  •  . 
the  young  boy  grew  t»p.     He  waTlTways  an 
earnest  and  serious  child,  and  in ^-tewwliold  where 
the  work  of  Sunday  was  the  ^reat  businesa^f  the       *~ 
wcek,  and  the  Communion  seaso?!he  great  business 
of  the  year,  it  was  natural  that  the  thought  of  the 
Christian  ministry  as  his  life  #ork  should  be  early 
before  his  mind.     During  the  school  years  in  Inver- 
ness  his  religious  impressions  were  deepened.    Dft 
Black's    recollections    of   Alec,  the    older    brother, 
during  that  period,  are  more  distinct  than  his  recol- 
lections of   George.    This    is    natural    enough.    A  _J* 
difference  of  three  years  in  age  is  a  great  difference  ^ 
in  the  case  of  young  boys,  and  the  older  brother  was 
besides  of  a  franker  nature,  and  more  ready  to  utter 
himself.    But  the  reserve  of  the  younger  lad  covered 
a  deeper  and  a  most  receptive  character,  and  in  after 
years  the  lessons  of  Dr.  Black's  preaching,  and  of  his     t*^ 
Bible  [class,  were  often  thankfully  recalled.    We  do 


Ok^:,' 


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49 


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go  GEORGE   H.  C.   MACGREGOR 

not  find  any  definite  (K)int  which  can  be  markecl  as  a 
conversion.  The  boy  had  not  to  enter  the  Kingdbm 
through  a  great  sudden  crisis ;  he  was  in  it,  as  it' 
were,  almost  unawares.  No  doubt  he  was  aided  by 
this  eider  brother's  strong  decision  for  Christ, 
in  their  first  winter  in  Edinburgh  it  was  cltar 
j>oth  were  children  of  God.  Wc  have  seen  how, 
iMter  to  his  father,  George  refers  to  the  chilling  effect 
of  study  on  the  spiritual  life.  But  this  is  only  when 
study  is  |>uniued  tci  the  neglect  of  devotion.  One 
does  not  know  whether  the  young  student  was 
acquainted  with  Charles  Simeon's  famous  advice  to 
one  who  wnsulted  him  about  sending  a  young  man 
of  peculwrly  evangelical  principles  to  Cambridge. 
"  If  he  come,"  wrote  Simeon,  "  without  a  full 
determination  to  conform  in  all  things  to  college  dis- 
cipline and  college  studies  .  .  .  he  will  do  incal- 
culable injury  to  religion."  *  Whether  he  knew  the 
counsel  or  not,  it  was  the  line  upon  which  he  acted. 
"Servir^g  the  Lord"  made  him  " not^othful"  in 
those  various  studies  which  for  the  time  were  his 
buslhess.  So,  fill  the  while,  his  spiritual  life  was 
growing.  The  ministry  which  he  attended  during  /^ 
these  years  was  that  of  Dr.  Alexander  Why te,  in 
Free  St.  George's  Church,  and  his  journals  contain 
many  notices  of  the  deep  effect  produced  by  Dr. 
Whyte's  intense  and  profoundly  spiritual  preaching. 
I  Dr.  H.  C.  G.  Moule's  CharUs  Simeon^  p.  184. 


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I  BEUEVBD,  THEREFORE  HAVE  I  SPOKEN  51 

Afterwards  he  was  aisocrated  ^^h  Dr.  Hood 
Wilson'!^,  congregation,  and  to  Dr.  Wilson  also  he 
(like  Hepry  Drummond.  and  so  many  others)  ac 
Irnowlcdged  a  life-long  debt  < 

•bdOt    us.  me    always    impreMcd    us  with   his    intense 


earncstn.^  He  was  a  devoted  student,  and  did  not  allow 
outside  work  to  in|rfere  with  hi,  studies,  the  benefit  of 
whiclv^appeared  afterwards  in  his  thorough  equipment  for 
his  work  as  a  minister.  He  had  times  of  nervous 
depression,  and  at  such  times  used  to  go  to  Professor 
Laidlaw  or  come  to  myself.  The  Professor  was  very 
r  hdpfu.  to  him  thus  as  otherwise.  The  strain  of  over- • 
study  or  bodily  ailment  (he  often  complained  of  his  head) 
largely  accounted  for  these  experiences.  ^  / 

In  his  last  university  session  we  found  him  like  a 
strong  runner  panting  for  the  commencing  of  hig 
race,  eagerly  looking  forward  to  the  time  when  his 
life  work  of  preaching  should  begin.     Most  of  the 
Churches  have  as  yet  made  little  definite  arrangement 
^r  the    practical  training  of  young  ministers,     ja 
Scotland  the  old  theory  was  that  the  divmity  stu- 
dent should  never  enter  a  pulpit  until  he  was  "licensed 
to  preach  the  Gospel."     It  was  Uke  forbidding  him 
to  enter  the  water,  and  then  exp^ting  him  to  swim 
at  the  first  attempt    One  may  conceive  what  the 
ordeal  was  for  the  young  asoifant  who.  never  having" 
had    the   opportunity   of^iddressing   the    smallest 


•■■"./ 


■  /     • 


5« 


GEORGE   H.  C.   MACGREGOR 


~^. -«-- 


meeting,  had  to  make  his  first  trembling  attempt  in 
presence  of  a  large  congregation.    Many  who  with 
proper  training  would  have  made  excellent  ministers 
broke  down  under  so  violent  and  unreasonable  a  test. 
These    were    the  "stickit  ministers"  of   a    former 
generation.    Things  are  different  now,  but  to  this 
day  a  man   must  largely  depend  upon  himself  to 
secure  what  maybe  called  an  apprenticeship  in  the 
noble    arts  of   preaching    and    ministering.     Many 
men,  of  course,  are  engaged  during  their  college 
years  in  home  missionary  work,  and  many  preach 
incessantly,  not  seldom  to  the  detriment  of  their, 
studies.    The  case  of  Geprge  Macgregor  sh^ws  that 
there  is  no  necessary  incompatibility  between  the  i 
intellectual  and  the  practical  preparation.     It  would 
be,  difficult  to  find  any  man  leaving  college  more 
thoroughly  prepared  for  his  work  on  its  practical  sid« 
than  he  w^s,  and  this  without  ever  once  allowing 
those  stui^s  to  suffer  in  which  he  had  so  greatly  disj 
tinguishedKhimself"  ■         "^ 

No  doubt  he  had  some  special  opportunities,  but  ill 
is  worth  while  to  see  how  skilfully  and  industriouslj 
he  availed  himself  of  them.  As  an  undergraduati 
he  uscki  to  help  in  cottage  meetings,  and  in  services 
heW-in  lodging-houses  and  in  the  wards  of  the  Roykl 
Infirmary.  Such  meetings  are  an  excellent  traininl 
school  for  th6se  who  wish  to  be  ministers.  The 
^o^gJ'T'g-liouse,  being  the  severest,  is  probably 


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V. 


'  I  BELIEVED,  THEREFORE  HAVE  I  SPOKEN  53 

^^    '^f'^^^^S'^  meetlhg  is  like  a  little  congrega- 
tion, .consisting  of  persons  voluntarily  assembled; 
»    the  ir^rrtiary  patients  cannot  escape  even  if  they 
would.    But    in  thet'   lodging-house   nb   one    need 
remain  or  listen  one  instant  longer  than  he  pleases, 
and  if  a  man  has  nothing  to  say,  or  cannot  say  what 
he  has  promptly  and  interestingly,  he  soon  fihds  his 
;^udience  vanish,  or;  his  remarks,  like  those  of  an 
Unpopular  member  of  JParliament,  lost  in  the  hum  of 
conversation.     I  daresay  tll^(  young  Highland  stu- 
dent had  some^  trying  exper^e^nces  when  he    first 
attempted  work  of  this  kind.    But  I  doubt  whether 
he  would  ever  be  without  an  audience.    There  is 
something  in  certain  voices,  and  his  was  one  of  them, 
which  forces  people  to  listen,  something  that  at  once 
announces  that  the  speaker  medns  business  and  has 
something  to  say.    Then  he  was  k  living,  strong 
man.  ~  There  are  strong  men  who  attract,  ahd  strong 
men  who  repel ;  and  he  was  emphatically  one  of  the 
former  kind.    The  great  thin|r,  however,  from  first,  td' 
last  was  that  he  was  full  of  his  message.    He  had 
glad  tidings  to  bring,  and  his  whole  face  and  bearing 
procraimed    as   well  as  his  words   how  glad    and 
precious'  the  tidings  had  been    to   himself.    Such 
means  as  these  are  manifestly  prepared  of  God,  and 
He  does  not  fail  to  use  them.    The  word  is  heard  and 
received  with  joy.  '  / 

The  winter  of  1884^84,  which  was  spent  at  home, 


-■■•)::    . 


\  »■■'* 


54 


GEORGE   H.  C  MACGREGOR  - 


jit  Ferintosh,  was  marked,  as  we  saw,  by  his  first 
definite  efforts  in  preaching.  To  hia  father,  who  was 
now  over  sixty'years  of  age,  and  in  somewhat  failingi 
health,  his  son's  assistance  in  the  parish  w6uld  in  any 
case  have  been  invaluable.  But  what  the  son  was 
enabled  to  do  was,  by  God's  blessings  something  very 
different  from  the  nief^  keeping-up  of  services.  It 
was  a  time  of  refreshing  and  revival  There  was  a 
quickening,  in  the  first  place,  in  the  young  grjduate's 
own  soul.  We  saw  the  earnest  thoughts  and  prayers 
with  which  his  university  course  ended.  But  this 
winter  there  seemed  to  come  to  him  a  fuller  sense 
nd  realising  of  the  great  fact  of  union  with  the  Son 
God.  He  once  told  Dr.  Moule  how  it  was  on  a 
m'ght  that  winter,  in  the  course  of  a  solitary  homeward 
walk  across  the  moor,  that  the  words  Christ  Who  is 
our  Life  flashed  upon  his  soul  with  a  quite  new  force. 
The  familiar  words  were  like  a  fresh  revelation  from 
God,  and  tftat  moment,  within  the  little  space  (as  he 
described  it),  which  might  be  coviered  in  half-a-dozen 
paces,  his  spiritual  horizon  was  changed  for  the  rest 
of  his  life.  With  this  n6w  baptism  of  power  and 
illumination,  he  went  forth  to  teach  and  preach  to 
others,  and  the  result,  under  Gojl,  was  the  quickenmg*' 
of  many  souls. 

The  Bible  Class  was  his  first  work,  and  his  own, 
special  department.  «He  was  an  admirable  teacher, 
mpst  lucid  and  painstaking,  and  he  excelled  in  im-  / 


''!> 


'*^?(jp 


I  BELIEVED.  THEREFORE  HAVE  I  SPOKEN  .55 

1,11 

parting  knowledge  of  ^(jd's  Word    His  object  in 
this  class,  however,  was  not  merely  to  give  a  better  * ,','.. 
knowledge  of  the  Bible,  but  to  bring  tho^e  yo\ing 
men  and  women  to  Christ    He  used  the  PiJ(gr/^'s 
Progress  to  set  forth  the  nature  aftid  course,  of  the 
Christian  life,  and  the  journal  shows   the  earnest 
prayer  v(lfch  which  every  meeting  was  attended    At       , 
the  end  of  the  year  the  young  people  gave  him  a  ^    , 
warm  tribute  of  their  gratitude  and  appreciation,  but 
.  there  was  more  living  and  abiding  proof  in  lives  won 
to  the  Saviour. 

Reference  has  already  beei^  made  to.  his  6rst 
efforts  at  preaching  that  winter,  and  tljfi  impression 
made.  A  very  distinct  recollection  is  left  of  my  own 
first  hearing  him,  about  a  jear  later..  It  was  on  the 
last  Sunday  of  the  year  1884,  in  the  Free  ChurrK  of 
Elie,  in  Fife.  J||  text  was  Isaiah  liii.  6,  "  The 
Lord  hath  laid  I^^Him  the  iniquiftjgl^air^;  and 
before  he  had  sjSto  three  sentenc^lBll|,  that  a 
new  preacher  had  arisen,  wl*)  wduld^T  go  far, 
whose  words  woulc^^tell  upon  the  world.  In  the  out- 
ward  details  of  Ahe^^reacher's  art  he  seemed  to  have 
complete  mastery  from  the  firsi  His ,., power  of 
speech  may  have  been  hereditary :  his  father  ^ke, 
with,  remarkable  ease.  But  the  father^S'  style  wis 
Johpsonian ;  the  son's  was  strong,  iiervous  Saxori^ 
His  clear,  incisivQ,.  mind  seemed  by  a  .k|ttd  of  in^-' 
stinct  so  to  arrange  and  divide. the  subject  as  to 


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5* 


GEORGE  H.  C.  MAGGRfiGQR 


make  it  not  merely  easy  for  the  audience  to  follow; 
but»  impossible  for  them  to^<d^  anything  else.     No 
one  could  mistake  his  meaning^  and  no  one  could  ftuT 
to  be  interested.    -^  i  ^  '^ 

3ut  these  things  were  on  the  -surface,  the  gamish- 
t  ing  of   the  dish.    That '  h^   spoke  admirably  was/ 
indeed  much,  but  the  deeper  question  is,  What  did 
he  speak?    The  answer  was  never  one  instant  iii 
doubt.  ^3^ha>>hd  spoke  was /the  Gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ/and  he  spoke  it  to  othei's  because  he  had  first 
known  it  and  found  it  to  be  the.  power  of  salvation 
to   himself.     It   was    tfie    message  of  a   personal 
Saviour.    And  this,  be  it  remembered,  was  while  this 
young  man  w4  still  passing  through  college,  en- 
gaged in  hard^  itudy,  entering  hew.  f^s  of  enquiry,- 
sonietimes  obliged  (as  he  tells  ua)io  abandon  old 
positions  and  readjust  his  beliefs  tbnew  facts  which   . 
he  had  learned,  withsome  attendant  uncertainty  and 
even,  at  times,  doubt.    But  there  was  no  doubt, or  ' 
uncertainty  regardingx^he  great  themeia"  his  pi^li, 
ing..    Here  his  feet  were  on  thf^-fock.'   These  facts 
were  clfear  and  certain  to  him.  as  his  own  existence— 
his  need,  God's  love.    Man's  need  was  met,  salvation  ; 
found,  in  the  appearing  and  work  of  the  Sflj^  of  God ;  • 
and  it  was-as>^  soul  on  fire  with  this  joyfyl  convic- 
tion that  he  spoke  to  constrain  his  brethren  to  accept 
the  same  offered  love.    The  note  of  urgency  is  less 
heard  in  modern  preaching  than^in  the  day?  of  th^  z 


17^ 


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1  BELIEVED,  THEREFORE  HAVE  I  SPCll^EN  <»  , 

fathers.    But  here  was  one  who    sounded    it    oh* 
'^  eeasingly  from  first  to  last.     For  jsVen  as  *a  st\}dent 
he  had«  heard  the  message  of  command^  I'  Cehtpil 
them  to  come  in"     ..  '>' 

The  summer  of  1885,  iafter  his  first  s6l^sipn  in 
divinity,,  was  spent  in  work  of  an  interestrpg  .kind.<<^ 
He  went  out  "to  Nova  Scotra,  and  took  charge' for 
four  months  and  a  half  of  a  srhall  congregation  at 
Bridgetown,  in  Annapolis  county.  To  himself  this 
was  always  a  happy  and  beautiful  memory,  and  Jiis 
labour  there  i?  gr«t:efully  remember<eid  still.  No  ontf 
who  knew  him  will  bfe  surprised  to  read  that  almost 
from  the  first  day  the  little  cause  rapidly  grew.  The 
young  student  had  during  these  months  ta  discharge 
all  the  duties  of  the  regular  ministry,  excepting,  of 
pdurse,  dispensing  the  sacraments ;  and  the  experience 
was  hardly  l^s  profitable  for  himself  than  for  his 
_  congregation.    At  the  end  of.  the  season  he  writes : — 


♦  1ro  his  Father. 

*■•■■■'■■■■...■■■"■'    i  ' 
.Slf/Z^^^r  14,  1885.— My  wqrk'  herp  is  qpw  oyer,  and 

looking  b^k  on  it,  as  I  do  with  a  feeli^ng  fi^the  prpfoundest 

thankfulniessj|l  seek  io  say  and  feel,  •♦ 

not  to  us,. HP)  Thyn^B  b|  all  thegloi 

morning  att^lanc|Jmsi^reased  frpj 

noon  from  56  toJ<9^'  There  was 

once  beguni  the  attendance  increa: 

amount  raised  for.  chtrch  purposes  his  risen  from  $100  <b 

$450..  I  find  it  very,  very  har^  to  get  away.    The  people 


to  us,  Lord, 

Tha  SablTath 

to  170,  the  al 

xy&c  meting, 

ra8t0  4a.    The 


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,Ji.  C  MACGKEGOR      ,  ^ 
nd.  agab,  hi^ve  said  that  they  will 


fqrward,  in«pite  oflAll  that  I  can  do 
my  return  in  spring  to  reniain  Anally 


}.  • 


.,\ 


^.*'  The  work  has  been  hard,  but  strength  has  been  given, 
and  now  at  the  ei(d  I  feel  strong  and  vigorcm's.    I  have 
breached  since  May  iSt  about  fifty  tittles,  and  .written  thirty 
jc  new  sermons.    The  want  of  books  niade  the  sermon 
|it^ng  very  hard,  but  constant  contact  With  thtf  people  and 
^*  .' ;      dmervation  of  their  weaknesses,  their  trials,  tejnptations, 
'    t   '.  i'i^diflfeculties  wa^  more  valuable  than  any  library. 

•      '  rS^®  ^^^  remark  is  noteworthy^  as  coming  frooi  so 
'  jlitense  arid  unwearied  a  student.    A  young  preacher's 
first  discourses  are  apt  to  be-  distressin^y  academic 
ap|l 'bookish  ,'  this  young  preacher  knew  instinctively 
the  antidote,  ^^  constant  cpjjte^  wit^thF^geople." 
Fii&jjournal  s6ows,  however,  what  this  meant  *lf  he 
,<i0r]npl4ins  of  fckrf!hg  few  books,  he  mastered  those  he^ 
.had',  including  such  work^  as  Janet's,  ^W  Qiffgs ;'  " 
;and,  abovfe  all,  he  spent  a'  long  Jini 

.ebrew  tiliyt)le  «nd  Greek  TSta^BT'^lMi^uehrfis '  ^ 

te  reciif  with  almost  nuW^nous  freque^Cl.'      -  £\   ' 
Jay  spent  in  pretty  hal-d  ^rk" ^  V A^da^r of  h^d/  '  M'  ,  \  S*'"*  "L^ 


->    * 


incessantVork''; 'toothing  worth  reoirding.-h^rd,*^^ 
isy' work  as  usUal  *[ ;  mea(|^ightH:hai^ters*of  Hetrew; ' 
^•fhen finished  I  Kings'*';  liA.daybf  hard  kebfew"**^" 


i»  ,** 


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I  BELIEVED,  THEREFbRE  HAVi  I  SPOKEN  59 


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•^•is^ 


>w6r|r.     Read  ten  chapters/ and  finished  ^2  Samuel. 
That  r^akes.  3^  books  this  month  already."      He  ^ 
was  always  a  fapid  worker,  and  the  combination  of 

'  rapidity  with  persistence  enabled  him  to  accomplish 
an  apiount  which  to  men  (0*  more  deliberate  habits  ^ 

.  would  appear  almost  impossible.    With  his  sermons  <; 
he  took  great  pafnSr    Nearly  everything  he -preached 
that  summer  seems  to  have  been  written  twice  over. 
He  was  a  mi^rciless  critic  of -his  own  wbilc.    "  Finished  , 
first  writing  on  Proverbs  iv,  24,  but  am  not  at  all  satis-  \ 
fied  with  it "  ;  "  Began  re-writing  on  Zechariah  xiii.  i,' 
with  no  very  great  sutcess.     My  preaching  power  at 
present  is  low :  Lord,  may  Thy  power  be  mighty "  ; 
"  Read  the  bdok  of  Nahum  in  the  morning,  and  tried 
to  write  on  Matthew  xxv.  10,  with  very  poor  resultsi," 
But  in  spite  of  his  own  unfavourable  judgment,  work 
done  with  such  faithful  diligence  and  such  constant 
priyer  could  not  be  in  vain.    The  whole  journal  is 
full  of  cries  and  longings  for  the  Divine  help,  and  the  ' 
answer  came. 
Through  all  the  busy  Nqw  College  years  .there  was  , 

'the  same  combination  of  hard  and  eager  study  with  , 
devoted  home  missionary  work.    During  the  summer 
0^  1886  he  was  in  Glasgow,  acting  as  student-assistant 

"^  to  t^e  *Rev.  John  Rjddell,  then  minister  6f  Paisley  ' 
Road  Ffee  Church,  one  of  a  band  of  men  whose 
n&mes  ^'Will  long  t>e  honoured  in  connection  with 

'   eva^i;elistiC' ehterprise  in  that  great  jpity.      Here, 


-       I 


"^^T 


•*?fr    * 


,    \.' 


3      60  GEORGE   H.  C.   MACGriEGOR 

amid  very  different  surroundings.Hhe  young  assistant 
showed  the  same  devotion,  the  same  J/eaching  power, 
and  the  same  aptitude  for  reaching  men,  which  he 
had  shown  ampng  the  pleasant  hills  and  farms  o^ 
Nova  $cotia.     There  was  abundant  variety  in  the 
work.   !  Oftenvtt  presented  quaint  incid<?nts,  and  at 
,  times  alspice  of  dangei|  yielding  queer  reminiscences 
which  he  sometimes,  though  rarely,  made  use  of  after- 
wards   In    hi^   addresses.      During    the  next    long 
vacation  (1887)  his  employment  was  different:  that 
of  Hebrew  tutor  and  lecturer,  preparing  men  .  about 
to  enier  the  Divinity  Hall  in  the  rudiments  of  the 
language^    But  ji«  could  play  the  one  part  as  well  as 
the>^ther,  and  his,  class  all  recognrsed  not  only  his 
scholarship  and,accuracy,  but  his  force  of  character, 
his  iji^ience,"  and  his  devotion  to  the  great  work  to 
which  „  he   and  they    were    alike  looking    forward 
During  his  last  winter  at  the  New  College- he  was 
again  engaged  in  Home  Mission  work.  In  the  district 
of  Gorgie,to  thewest  of  Edinbi,rgh,thei»a  mission 
under  the  charge  of  his  honoured  friend,  Dr.  Wilson, 
and   ^  the  Barclay  congregation.     Here   also  his  " 
labour^  are  thankfully  remembered. 

Som^extracts  from  his  letters  Jiome  will  show  the    ^ 
spirit  J^  which  those  years  ol;  study^^l^sed 


Novti 


To  Aif-0/desi  Sisfer. 
w-Mj,  1884.-I  find  theposi 


I  have  taken' 


I 

.     ■  ■  ■■ 

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some;  influence 

•  ■ 

influence  ihould 
We  have  great 


I  •BELIEVfeD,  THEREFOiRE  HAVE 

[iii  the  Bcholarahip  examination}  carriea 

with  it.    It  is  my  emnest  desire  that  that 

be  used  altogeth«ri(ox  Christ.    .     . 

caUse  to  be  thankful  for  the  spirit  that  animates  our  Mall. 

It  is  a 'flat  contradiction  to  the  pessimistic  views  of  sofme 

who  are  cojistattily  sighing  and  groaning  for  the  g9od  614 

times.     I  wish  those  who  sometimes  say  hard  things  about 

us  young.  men->and  I  know  it  is  easy  to  find  ground  for 

them -wduld  just  instead  pray  very  earnestly  for  us.     |t 

would  help  us  to  become  better.      . 

.    I  enjoy  the  Hall  immensely,    I  have  already  made  some 

splendid  friendi,  true  brothers  in  Christ,  and  I  trust  we 

may  b^^lpful  to  one  andther.'    Being  actually  in  the  Hall 

seems  to  brinBLQne's  life  work  very  near,  and  as  1  thinH  of 

1^  the  enormoJPPIe^onsibilities  I  sometimes  almost  faint. 
Qh^  Forrie,  what  Yieed  we  have  of  g^ce  to  sustain  us^  what 
need  of -the  prayers  of  all  Gffd's  childAuit  The  only 
Ihing 'that  sustains  us  in  times  of  fainting  ijBk^ords  like 
these:  "  My  grace  is  sufficient." ;  "  My  Oodmlrsupply  all 

*;'_yi>«if'w^</"  J,  "Ye  are  complete  in  Him."  '     / 


^ 


Ajettejf  a  few  weeks  la^er  describes  the  visit  to 
EditflHJI^    Messrs.  Studd  and  Stanley  3mith. 

It  was  a  splendid  .sight  to  see  these  muscular  young 
fellows  earnestly  pleading  with  the  students  to  be  recon- 
ciled to  Cod  through  Christ  Jesus,  and  that  those  who 
were  belieVers  shpuld  *'^ome  right  out  from  the  woriW"  fp;r 
Christ.  A  very  great  impression  was  riiade*  About  150 
men  went  jdowa  tQ  the  station  ^o  sfethei;n  off;  Smith  had 
to^address  them  again  for  a  little,  and  when  he  got  into  the 
carriage  they  surrounded  the  ||oor  and  sang,  "  Stand  up, 


m. 


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*>* 


GEORGE   H,  C   MACGREGOR 


•tan^^p  for  Jesus."  and  other  hymns.  It  wu  all  the  more 
remarkable  because  there  was  nothing  that  even  the  most 
(i^id  could  call  sensational  in  the  meeting  from  beginning 
tt>  end.  I  do  believe  that  God  blessed  the  word.  It  was 
«n  evidence  how  He  ^nours  those  who  will  take  Him  at 
His  word,  and  cpmc  "right^ut."  for  Christ. 

^  The  passage  which  follows  is  remarkable  as  showing 
how  early  he  had  graspi|^.thi  i-uths  to  the  enforcing 
of  which  so  much  of  his  afterlife  was  to.be  devoted 


#. 


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4 


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.  %" 


-  J^eijr^  ,5.   ,88s.~Jlow  is  it  with  yourself  in  these 

days?3^F.ghtings  with*  and  fears; within."  I  suppose. 

There  may  be  the  old  eA^es  to  figftt,  but  we  must  re- 

^  member  our  help  is  in  thelL.  Lor*     If  we  have  failed 

.n  the  past,  must  it  not  just  hai|een  because  we  were  fight-  - 

mgin  out  own  strength  instead  of  ^ting  in  our  LTTrd? 

.    I  believe  that  most  of  the  evils  frommigh  we  suffer  arise 

from  thus  takmg  the  matter  into  our  own  hands.     How  often 

we  stnve  and  struggle  after  holiness,  say  after  likeness  to 

,  Chris  ,  as  ,f  ,t  were  a  thing  to  be  giv^  us  as  a  reward  for 

^   our  stnvihg.     I  don't  think  it  i,  so.     Sa/mfion  fy /aM   I 

-^^^/^^^    Oh.  to  what-might  we  not  attain,   if  we 
.were, tc^surrender  ourselves'  em^ly  to  Christ,  and  trust 

Him  by  |Iis  Spirit  to  work  out  His  nir^ess  in  us; 

Twelve  months  ikter.  i„  a  letter  written  after  a 
sh^ht  attack  ^f  illness,  then,  is  a  characteristic  burst 

of  impatience  wit^  some  of  the  subjects,  historical  con. 
troversies  and  records  of  ancierit  heresies/which  he 


,»■: 


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I  BELIEVED,  THEREFORE  HAVE  I  SPOKEN  63 

was  obliged  to  read  for  examination.  The  sense  of 
the  Church's  coldness  and  need  of  revival  oppresses 
him.  Something  must  be  wrong,  when  the  Church 
has  so  little  hold  of  the  masses  on  the  one  hand,  and 
of  so  much  cultured  opinion  on  the  other.  He  has 
no  doubt  for  himself  what  is  needed.  The  Church 
must  go  back  to  the  Bible,  and  as  men  reverently 
search  the  record  of  God's  revealed  will,  the  spirit  of 
enlightenment  and  power  will  be  given.  He  tells  his 
lister  something  of  the  fresh  spoil  he  has  himself 
found  in  the  Bible  during  his  recent  illness.  It  is 
interesfing  to  see  his  favourite  topical  method  of 
studying  Scripture,  book  by  book,  already  in  full 
operation. 


I 


-J* L 


\  -.. 


t 


i  ■ 


February  a  a,  1886. — My  illness  broke  off  my  other 
studies  and  sent  me  to  my  Bible,  and  there  I  have  had 
many  a  rare  feast.  I  have  read  and  marked  very  carefully 
J\fatthew,  Luke,  Romans,  Galatians,  Ephesians,  Colossians, 
[mothy,  I  Peter,  I  John,  and  r  Corinthians.  Some  of 
are  glorious. 

Take  t  John,  for  example,  and  examine  it.  Perhaps 
)tou  may  not  have  time.  If  not,  tell  M— ,  she  might  like 
ta  do  it;  or  Bessie,  but  she  might  take  Ephesians.  Take 
r  John,  and  find  what  is  said  (i)  of  forgiveness  of  sins;  (a) 
of  eternal  life;  (3)  of  abiding  in  Christ;  (4)  of  love-rits 
definmon  and  duties ;  (5)  of  faith  and  its  result ;  (6)  of  ihe 
purpose  of  the  Incarnation ;  (7)  of  the  character  of  the 
children\of  God.  The  search  and  the  arranging  brings  you 
into  very\  close  contact  with  the  Word,  and  gives  a  rate 


'.        .     if*" 


■  ■■  -iS". 


Jj 


f  ■ 


Z:'*VF^''f 


^ 


GEOROR    H.   C    MACGREGOR 


.,^r 


feut  My  fttvourlto  text  Irt  the  whole  epistle  1%  "  God  i» 
light,  and  in  Him  ii  no  darkness  at  all."  Isn't  it  splendid 
for  poor,  ignorant,  deluded  mortals  such  as  we  are,  pcN^^^ 
plexed  and  lieaten  by  the  problems  of  life  ?  Ffow  we  need 
light  I  Is  it  not  just  that  yearning  that  makes  that  hymn, 
"I^d,  kindly  light,"  such  a  favourite?  and  to  think  that 
in  God  there  is  no  darkness  at  all  I    Truly,  to  know  Him 

«f«// be  life  eternal  * 

Ephesians  again  it  profoundly  interesting.  Kxamine  ft, 
and  find  what  is  said  (i)  about  the  things  that  are  "of 
Christ " ;  (a)  about  riches  or  richhes.s  ;  (3)  about  walking  ; 
(4)  about  grace.  I  think  my  favourite  text  here  is  chapter 
V,  8,  with  the  gracious  promise  of  v.  14,  "Christ  shall 
shine  upon  thee." 

Thus  the  Lehrjahre,  the  years  of  apprenticeship  for 
the  holy  ministry,  drew  to  a  close.     A  more  various 
and  successful  training  for  all  parts  of  the  work  it 
were  difficult,  one  would   think,  to  find.     But  one 
other  experience  remained,  which  was  to  give  to  his 
ministry  one  of  Its  most  characteristic  and  impressive 
features.     Work  in  a  colony  and  some  travelling  in 
America  had  already  given  glimpses  of  a  bigger  world 
than  that  of  ordinary  work  at  home.     His  interest,  i 
foreign  missions  was  strong  and  deep.     It  could 
be  otherwise  in  one  who  had  Been  four  years  a  me...^ 
ber  of  the  Barclay  Church,  a  congregation   whose 
missionary  members  are  in  many  distant  lands,  and 
whose  monthly  magazine  is  a  constant  budget  of 
Iresh  missionary  news.     His  inter||ft  in  the  matter, 


^»:. 


»-.-.^-:.ti 


II 
d 

i 

I. 
t 


f.    " 


▼^ 


^r 


X 


»K" 


I  BELIEVED,  THEREFORE  HAVE  I  SPOKEN  65 

however,  did  not  begin  in  the  Barclay ;  it  dated  from 
his  boyhocxi.  «ut  now  there  came  a  personal  call: 
would  he  himself  go  forth  as  a  missionary  to  the 
I  Mohammedans  ?  The  call  and  the  result  are  de- 
•cribed  in  a  graphic  no^ii  by  Dr.  George  Smith,  the 
biographer  of  Martyn,  Carey,  and  Duff,  and  the 
honoured  secretary  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland's 
Foreign  Missions. 


On  the  sudden  death  of  the  Hon.  Ion  kc>ith  Falconer,  *", 
at  Sheikh  Othman,  near  Aden,  on  the  nth  May,  1887,  it 
was  my  duty  to  find  a  successor  among  our  young  ministen 
or  lenior  divinity  students.     In  the  session  of  1887-88  I 
sent  for  George  Macgregor,  whose  visit  to  Canada  I  was 
.aware  of,  whose  combination  of  scholarship  and  spiritual 
zeal  I  knew  that  winter.  \  "  Will  you,"  I  said  to  him,  "  take 
up  Ion  Keith-Falconer's  mantle  if  the  committee  calf  you 
to  be  his  successor?"    His  face  lighted  up  immediately, 
and  then  clouded  as  he  replied  that  he  could  not  believe 
he   would    be    found  worthy   of  such  a   call,  but,  God 
helping  him,  he  was  ready  to  accept  it  if  offered. to  him. 
A  medical  examination   resulted  in  his   being   forbidden 
to  work  in  the  tropics.     His  disappointment  was  intense; 
His  was  the  will,  hearty,  immediate,   and  self-saCrificing; 
and  God,  I  doubt  not,  reckoned  it  to  him  in  his  future 
career,    I  next  met  him  at  the   Liverpool   conference  of 
1896,  and  again  in  my  own  office  last  year.      The  call 
to  South  Arabia   had   baptised   him  with   the   spirit  of     ' 
foreign  missions,  which  he  always  ltf|ed  to  the  highest 
spiritual  level 


^ 


^^ 


i-% 


^    k. 


-r+- 


>,, 


60     ■     VtfeoRGE   H.  C.  MACGREGOR   <w 

HiV  journal  sliows  the  thoughts  and  questionings 
of  those  days.         \ 


1887.  Monday,  Nffvemder  28.— A  crisis.  Got  a  letter 
from  the  Foreign  Mission  secretary,  asking  ine  to  go  to 
Sheikh  Othman,  to  succeed  Ion  Keith-Falconer.  Spent 
the  day  in  a  state  of  great  excitement/  O  God,  guide  me 
t  in  thfs  great  matter,  and,  whether  I  go  or  not,  rtiake  it  a 
means  of  stirring  me  and  drawing  me  nearer  Thee.  Spent 
the  evening  taking  with  George  Ross  about  it. 

Thesday,  2g.—Sti\Vin  considerable  agitation  about  this 
j»atf^rf  ^  Saw  Dr.  Wilson  about  it.r  He  does  not  give  me 
defirfite  advicie,  but  incUnes  to  think  I  am  not  fit  for  it 
(physically).  Wrote  ^lec  ,Then  set  myself  down  to  the 
duties  of'the  day,  although  not  feeling  in  good  form  for 
,  thent..  Lord,  make  use"  of  this  to  draw  me  nearer  to  Thy- 
self. In  the  evening  went  to  Principal  Miller's,*  and  hada 
-chat  with  him. ^     •     - 

Wednesday,  30:— «Anxious  still,  but  calmer.  Had  a  long 
taflc  with  Br.  Laidlaw,  and  afterwarfls  saw  Dr.  Smith  again. 
I  have  got  a  little  longer  time  for  deciding. 

Saturday,  December.  3.— In  the  morning  heard  Gardner, 
of  Toynbee  Hall^  London,  give  a  niost  interesting  address. 
Much  impressed  by  the  self-sacrifice  of  the  man/ *  Lord, 
giye"  me  more  of  it.  ^  ' 

■'/    "    :/     y- .     ■  ■V:'^    "■■  '♦ '  ■'■  ■-■'■'•'  ■     ■'■  ■■/, 
A  beautifulletter  from  his  fathfer  had  I^ft  him  en 
tirely  free  to  decide  as  God  might  lead  him.  *    The 
letter  is  a  noble  example  of  the.spirit  which  Christian 


\. 


/  ^     - 


.  > 


* 

■  ■■  1'  •  . 

\^  9/*thp  Christian  College,  Madras  ;  then  on  furlough 

F       « 

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I  BELIEVED,  THEREFORE  HAVE  I  SPOKEN  6^ 

parents  ought  to.  show  when  theif  children  receive 
,      God's  call- to  work  abroad. 

/     FerintosH,  Z?^«»i^(fr  3,  1887. 
My  dear  George,7- 

Your  letter  h^  put  me  in  great  perplexity.  I  took  two 
days  to  think  ove^f  it  and  pray  over  it;  and  yet  I  can  give 
no  opinion.  It  is  a  post  of  high  honour  you  are  desired  to 
fill.    The^Iements  that  should  go  to  decide  are  your  fitness 

-  for  the  post,  the  leaning  of  your  mind,  and  the  suitableness 
of  the  climate  for  your  constitution.  If  soldiers  and 'sailors 
go  in  the  service  of  an  ^fthly  queen,  the  soldiers  of  the 
7^  Cross  should  not  be  behind  them  in  heroism.  Though  I 
shall  l^e  very  sorry  and^eart-sore  to  part  with  you,  if  the 
matter  is  of  the  Lord,  I  can  neither  say  good  nor  bad;  and 
if  it  is  His,  I  hope  He  will  make  the  way  clear.    The  first 

"missionary  and  founder  of  the  station  fell  ^  martyr  to  a 
noble  cause.    I  trust  and  pray  the  grain  of  wheat  that  died 
may  bring  fort^i  much  fruit.'    Pray  that  God  may  guide  you 
■     wisely.    With  all  our  lovci 

'.'■■-  >i  A        /  •     •    "Your  affectionate  father; 

:   . "^  ♦'  '.  ,^  M.  Macgregor. 

.    ■  ' .  ■  '    ■  ■  .  •  ..    -.'■■'■  ■•■.=      ■■■■■ 

It  is  evident  how.  intensely  the  work  attracted 
the  yoang  man,  butJt  is  ^Iso  evident  how  en- 
tirely he  left  Ijimself  in  God's  hands.  'If  it  were ' 
God'6  will  that  he  should  go,  he  wou%go  forth 
with  joy.  If  that  were  not  God's  will,  he  would 
cheerfully  ffemain.  He  was  medically  examined  by 
Sir  Thomas  Grainger  Stewart,  ^5rhose  adverse  judg- 
^ment  Is^briefly  and  calmly»noted  in  the  journal,    "^e 


» 


^  m 


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\ 


I- 

/ 


/  > 


68  GEORGE   H.  C.  MACGREGOR  : 

decidesWa'W/  my  going,;  so  that  settles  the  matter. 
Lord,  I  pray  Thee  to  make- use  of  this  whol§  matter  to 
bring  me  nearer  to  The6."  The  eminent  Christian 
physician  whose  judgment  was  thus  decisive'  has 
^  himself  recwitly  passed  away«  It  is  impossible,  there- 
fore, now  to  ascertain  the  gfrounds  of  his  opinion,  but 
it  is  not  idTfirobable  that  the  peculiar  nervous  energy 
which  ensSbled  Geor^  Miacgregor  to  worH  with  suich 
intensity,  tie  keen  sipirit,  like  a  swQrd,  all  the  while 
wearing  tfc^ugh  the  bodily  sheath,  was  a  condition 
of  peculiar  danger  for  tropical  climates.^  ^  '  ; ; 
So  God  k^^  him  for  work  at  home,  and  joyfully 
and  unsparingly  hp  did  that  work.  Yet  one  often 
felt  that  his  heart  would  have  been  abroad  had  the 
way  been  open^  He  Was  content,  and  never  hankered 
after  what  a  Higher  Wisdom  denied.  His  part  in. 
the  great  cause  of  missions  was,  without  slackening 
one  instant  in  the  diligent  pressing  forward  of  his 
.  work  at  home,  to  JabbUr,  as  /^w  have  done,  for  the 
quiokening  of  th^  missionary  spirit  in  the  Church  of 
,Chr^t,  and  to  rouse  others,  who  might  not  be  debawed 
from  iftTsponding  as  he  was,  to  hear  the  missionary 
call.     How  he  did  this,  will  appear  in  its  due  place. 


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ABERDEEN  MINISTRY  * 


1 


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-        ,  CHAPTER  V  .  ■' 

Aberdeen  Ministry     ', 

N  the  Presljyterian  churches,  w^eti  a  s^ti^dent  of 


divinity  ha^  completed  his  theolbgic^t  studjies 
and  passed  his 'last  college  ^amin^tiQn,  he  is  ex-     , 
amirred  by  his  Presbyte/y*  and  thereafter  solemnly 
licensed  to  preaq^  thfc  Gospel     He  h  then  called  a  ^ 
probationer,  heln^  understood  (though  this  is  not 
compulstory).to  p4iss  through, at  least  a  year's  "  p*oba-     ' 
tfon "  befcwe  bepjpmitig  eligible  for  ordination  to  a 
pastorail    c^rge.      For'  most  men  ^the  'experience    " 
gained  (during  thi3  intermediate  period  fs-not  nierejy     - 
of  value,  but  is  indispensable.,,  The  more  diligent  a  "  •"' 
student  has  been,  the  less,  a^  a  general  rule,  is^hia'  .,» 
a^pqu^ffftance  with  the  practical  side  of  the  minister'^  ^  • 
ivork    In  that  work,,.niore  than  in  fliost  things,  ohi,„ 
must  try  his  wings  before  he  can  fly.    If  he  cafi  begiri  «^»  . 
a9'  assistant  to  a  affnister  of  power  lan^  experience, 
-thatis'the  m<>st  profitable;  but  he  should  also  have"    " 
sdme  scope  for ,  independent  work,  so  us  to  ^velo|y    ^ 
his  own  resources.    JPor  most  men  it  would  be  tiie  "  >' 
iT^ost  serious  disadvantage  to  be  required  at  -once  to 
assume  the'  full' charge  of  a  large  congregatioa    In  ' . 


4   I 


«.ii 


A    ^  »l^ « 


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V 


y^  s' 


11 


'* 


v^"- 


«         0 


^  ° 


ft  GEORGE  H.  C  MACCREGOR, 

numberless  %«»  it  b<is  checked  qr  stunted  a  man^s 
whole,  intellectual  growth,  while  others  have  tjCen 
overpowered  by  the  mere  physical  strain.       '  ' 

There  are  exceptions,  however,  to  every  rtild, 
Wheh  Geoi^  Macgregor  finished- his  course  at  the 
New  College,  few  of  thosef  who  merely  knew  him  as 
haviqW  passed  a  brilliant  examination  were  aware 
how  thoroughly,  in  all  essentials,  he  wa9  already 
equipped  as  a  minister.  His  experience,  though 
brief,  had '  been  remarkably  varied,  and  his  native 
'quickness  had  turned  it  to  extraordinarily  good  ac- 
count. Let  us  reckon  up  what  that  experience  had 
been.  First,  he  had  had,  three  years  before,  a  whole 
season's  experience  of  what  was  virtually  a  pastoral 
charge.  Since  th^  there  liad  been  ample  time  to 
think^pver  any  mistakes  and  errors  in  "judgment,  so 
as  to  avoid  repeating  them  in  another  case.  Next, 
he  had  done  home  mission  work  in  both  the  chief  cities 
of  Scotland,  and  that  under  two  men  among  the  most 

•  prominent  in  that  field  of  labour.  He  had  preached 
and  worked,  further,  in  a  Highland  parishJIand  knew 
from  his  childhood  the  conditions  of  work  in  the 
North.  Finally,  he  had  received  a  foreign  missionary 
call,  and  though,  in  his  own  phrase,  ,"  God  blocked 
the  way;"  this  had  given  him-  a  pec'ulii^r  sense  and 

.  tealization  of  the  truth  that  the  field  is  th^  w&rld.    Hi 

•  was  very  youn^,  not  yet  twenty-four,  tihe  youngest, 
,  possibly,  of  aU%ho  passed  the  exit  examination  that 


,  f 


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ABERDEEN  \MINISTRY 


73 


sealson.  Y^t  It  Is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  not 
many  minist^^rs  of  five  or  ten  years'  standing  could  be 
found  to  slirpass  this  youth  of  four-and-twenty,  in  the 
combination  of  attainment,  preaching  power,  and  even 
\  in  variety  pf  experienpe. 

\  This  fact  was  soon  to  be  brought  to  the  proof.  A 
few  weeks  before  the  close  of  the  session:  he  had 
rei^cdived  thia  letter  from  the  Rev.  John  McNeill  :-:r 

\  ^^  Blacket  Plac^,  JEnlNDinRGH,  . 

EAR  Mr.  Macgrkgor, — 
I  have  learned  from  Mr.  Murray  Garden  that  the  East 
Free,  i^berdeen,  will  be  glad  to  hear  you  on  Sabbath  first. 
,  Kinc^ly,  therefore,  "  bundle  and  go."  Send  a  post-card 
to  the  above  named  gentleman— *•  Aberdeen  "  is  all,' the 
direction  U  needs— stating  the  train  by  whichyou  intend  tp 
travel,  and  you  will  be  met  at  the  station. 

Go  and  te^  them  pf  J,esas  as  though  they  had  never  heard 
of  Him  before.    Neither  they  have^frpm  you. 

Yours  .feithfully,         ^ 
\      ^?  John  McwEiLtix 

Thfo  letter  h^d  b^n  preceded  t^  a  telegram  which 
^'  had  greatly  mystified  the  young  student.  It  was  from 
a  totai  stranger^aniolBice-bearer  of  the  Aberdeen  East' 
Gwrch — a  church  whose  very  existence  he  was  hardly 
aware  Df» — and  contained  simply  the  words,  "  Pleas« 
'send  psalms  and  hymns,  for  Sunday."  He  was,  hap- 
pily, atble  to  accept  the  "unexpected  invitation.     H»  • 


:\^ 


.:  ;i;-...- 

■- ■•    "'.♦«" 

:.-",. 

■-■  f' 


74 


GEORGE  H.  C  MACGREGOft 


% 


if) 


kn6w  m  one  in  Aberdten,  and,  unaware  that  there 
was  any  vacancy,  merely  thought  it  would  be  inter-* 
esting  to  see  a  new  place.     He  preached  twice  on  the 
Sunday,  and  conducted  the  Bible  class  for  young  men  ' 
and  women  in  the  evening.    The  class  was  crowded, 
and  nearly  all  the  elders  were  present,  which  led  thd    ' 
preacher  to  remark  to  a  friend  next  day  that  he  h^d 
never  .seen  elders  so  eager  for  Bible  instruction  as 
these  good  men  in  Aberdeejyl    As  a  matter .  of  fact, 
of  course,  the  ^jp^ood  nien's  "motive  was  simply  to  hear 
:— r  him  speak  a  tliird  time,  and  to  see  whether  his  Bible-, 
class  Vfork  was  as  remarkable  as  his  preaching.     It 
is  neediest  to  siy  that  they  were  perfectly- satisfied.  ° 
A  cbngregational    meeting    was  immediately  sUhi-  ' 
moned,  and  a  yvcek  later,  on  the  a/th  February,  it' 
,  IS  Avas  onanimously  resolved  to  dall  Mr,  G.  H.  C.  Mac- 

gregor,  student  of  divinity,  to  be  their  pastofs 
^      But  others,  too,  were  desirous  of  claiming  him. 
I  The  Free  Church  at  Burntisland,  whose,  minister,,  th? 
'    Rev.  T,  B.  Kilpatrick  (now  Professor  Kilpatrick,  of 
•' Winnipeg  Jheolqgi^al' College),  had  just  been  trans- 
lated to  Aberdeen,' fiad  already  set' tiieir  afrectlons' 
upon  him,  and  now  hastened  to  give  him  a  formal  i  « 
call    The  charge  at  Burntisland  h^  many  attrac- 
tloiiil.    The  congregation  w^  large  enough  to  occupy 
a  mu^ter^s^ergies.     It  wAs  close  to  Edinburgh,  ^i 
rel^fc  as  \v^n  as  the  national  capitdl  of  Scotland, 
aid  situated^in  a  county  noted  for  the.  close  and 


k- 


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=tsj=-i-- 


ABERPEEN  MINISTRY 


7S 


^' 


i    s^  " 


kindly  fellowship  that  unites  its  ministers.  Of  the 
two  calls,  certainly  nine  young  men  out  of  ten  would 
have  been  wise  to  prefer  that  fron;)^  the  country  town, 
and  many  of  his  friends  learned  with  surprise  that  h© 
had  resolved  to  accept  the  call  from  the  large  city. 
It  was  soon  clear  enough  that  his  judgment  was 
right.  Though  perfectly  modest,  he  had  from  ex- 
jjerience  a  just  estimate  o^  his  own  powers.  He 
naturally  turned;  therefore,  to  the  field  which  offered 
the  harder,  more  varied,  and  more  responsible  work  ;  „ 
ind  the  advice  oAiis  uncle,  the  Rev.  John  Macgregor, 
oir  Stock  well  Free  Church,  Glasgow,  confirmed  him  in 
accepting  the  caW  to  Aberdeen. 

The  church  of  which  he  was  thus  to  becorrie  minis- 
ter, at  the  earliest  possible  moment  after  leaving 
college,  was  one  of  the  historif  congregations  of  the 
Free  Church  of  Scotland.  At  the  Disruption*  of  1843. 
all  the  city  ministers  of  Aberdeen,  fifteen  in.  nijmber, 
threw  in  their  lot  with  the  Free  Church.  The  three 
most  important  congregations  were  the  East  Church, 
whose  minister  was  Dr.  James  Foote ;  the  West,  then 
under  thp  charge  of  Dr.  A.  Dype  Davidson;  and  the 
South,  ministered  to  by  Dr.  W.  K.  Tweedie.  „The 
iarg^,  pile  of  buildings,  erected  to  apcommodate  those 
three  congregations  iinid^r  one  roof,  and  crpwtted  ^jjr 
a  graceful,  if  somewhat  austere,  brick  spire,  is  stilV one 
of  the  most  striking  architectufal  features  of  the  city. 
AH  those  churches  have' been  blessed  with  a  sWcces- 


■%' 


%i 


\i  \ 


■f 


'«'% 


'■■■i 

i, 

i 

,  J.- 


"■'4^,v\ 


H: 


'  '^5^?«-'-  ■"*■-•  'l«S^-  * 


■■-  \ 


»•  GEOI^GE   H.  d  MACGkEGOR       ' 

sion  6f  eminent  and  d«voted  Yijlnlstcrs,  andtheskme 
may  be  flaidt)f  the  High  Church,  which  has  occupied 
.  the  western  end  of  the  building  since    the   West 
Church  found  a  new  habitation  for  itself  in  Union 
Sti-eet     Dr.  Foote,  the  first  minister  of  the  Free  East 
Cfjurfch,  was  a  powerful  preacher,  and  a  man  whose 
f^rce  of  character  made  a  deep  impression   on  the 
hole  community.     His  successor  was    Dr.  James 
lalder  Macphail,'  translated  in  1868  to  Edinburgh, 
'ext  tame  the  brief  but  interesting  ministry  of  thftl 
lev.  James  S.  Candlish,  son  of  the  eminent  Disrup- 
^  leader,  and  himself  one  of  the  most  learned  and 
samtTJr  of  men.     In  1872  he  was  made  Professor  of 
^Divinity  in  the  Free  Church  College,  Glasgow,  and 
was  succeeded  by  the  Kev.  JaiifgSrSelfeimpwtRwe 
failing  health,  and  eyesight  now  made  necessary  the 
I  appointnfient  of  a  colleague  to  assume  the  full  charge 
of  the  congregation.     Such^  was  the  succession,  in 
ivhich  to-dax^ere  is  no  more  cherished  name  than 
'/George  Macgregor.  / 

/      The  congregation  had  always  numbered  among  its 
.  members  some  distinguished  men.  Principal  Lumsden 


nrtSLj^  7  ^]"'^  ^'-  ^^*=P^^"  P*'^  »°  ^'''  o'd  flock,  in 
October,  ^892,  Mr.  Margregor  wrote :-«  A  time  of  blesJing 
«.Z  I*  !  **^  most  delightful  to  see  the  joy  of  minister  and 
people  at  meetmg  again,  and  for  myself,  I  thafik  God  for  it,  and 
take  courage.  It  proves  that  faithful  work  always  gains  ac 
knowledgment,  and  that  a  minister,even  though  he  knows  it  not. 
majr  be  mfluencmg,  to  a  great  extent,  the  lives-of  his  people 


'■:■■■■- :v 


V! 


i:'-. 


v.-  , 


/• 


V' 


ABERDEEN   MINISTRY 


77 


and  Professor  Robertson  S^l|y|a()  both  served  In  it 
AS  elders.  Dr.  Rob^rtsojUHpl  was  a  member  of 
the  church  during  his  stu£nRiJys,  and  a  paper  on 
Charlotte  Brontd,  which  he  read  at  the  Young  Men's 
Society,  was  one  of  the  first  indications  of  his  remark- 
able powers  as  a  literary  critic.  In  1888,  though 
somewhat  diminished  in  numbers,  the  church  was  in 
•pirit  and  heart  as  strong  as  ever,  and  had  for  oflicc- 
bcarers  men  of  Christian  character  and  high  standing 
in  the  comn)unity.  Two  or  three  only,  because  they 
are  no  longer  here,  may  be  named,  ^n  Mr.  William 
Rose,  and  llis  brother,  Mr.  James  Rose,  of  Hazlehead, 
were  to  be  seen  the  deep  devotion  and  prayerfulness, 
the  liberality,  and  the  unobtrusive  delight  in  doing 
good,  that  do  so  much  to  strengthen  a  pastor's  hands. 
James  Murray  Garden  was,  beyond  dispute,  the  ablest 
of  the  younger  men  in  the  city,  singularly  clear  and 
wise  in  jifdgthent  and  in  sp^ch.  There  waS  some- 
thing statesmanlike  about  him.  Every  word  of  his 
seemed  to  carry  ^  peculiar  weight  and  moral  force 
and  this  force,  as  all  men  knew,  was  the  outcome  b! 
a  spiritual  life,  reserved,  but  very  deep  and   living 

,  And  Dr.  William  Alexander,  the  editor  of  the  Ader- 
dim  Free  Press,  was  the  Aberdonian  of  genius,  the 
creator  of  Jo  Annie  GM,  and  the  greatest  master  of 
the  old  Scots  speech  for  more  than  a  generation. 
Not  less  was  he  known  as  the  outspoken  foe  of  every 
abuse,  the  constant  advocate  of  popular  education, 

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78 


GEORGE    H,   C.   MACGREGOR 


and  of  every  reform.  His  Heart  wjas  hot  worn  on  his 
sleeve ;  it  is  not  his  country'?  way  to  carry  it  there ; 
and  to  those  who  did  not  know  him  William  Alex- 
ander  might  seem  principally  a  fighter.  'But  to  his 
friends  a  heart  how  true,  and  spiritual  sympathies 
how  deep  and  strong  1  The  judgment  of  such  men 
as  these  is  not  likely  to  be  much  at  fault.  Some  . 
*  surprisfe  was  natural  when  it  got  abroad  that  the 
East  Church  of  Aberdeen,  after  considering  several 
ministers  of  standing,  .had  put  them  all  aside,  and 
chosen .  unanimously  a  student  in  his  last  year  in 
Edinburgh.  It  seemed  a  rash  experimeriflp,  bu^  they 
were  hot  rash  men  who  were  making  it.  Those  who 
knew  the  man  of  their  choice  felt  sure  that  that  choice  > 
would  not  be  regretted ;  and  no  one  wonders  at  it 
ho\\r.  ^  ^       ^ 

With  a  solemn  sense  of  responsibility,  yet  full  ol 
the  joy  of  service^  George  Macgregor  newsstands  on 
the  threshold  of  his  life  work.  To  all  appearance 
few  could  be  better  equipped  and  furnished  at  every 
point.  But  one  thing  was  to  be  added"  to  complete 
his  training.  During  the  weeks  which  intervened 
before  his  entering  upon  hi§  work,  there  fell  upon 
him  two  severe  bereavements.  His  venerable  father' 
whosf  health  had  been  failing  for  several  years,  ancr 
had  steadily  declined  during  the  winter,  died  on  the 
30th  of  April.  And,  just  four  weeks  later,  came  a 
Jl.   second    blow,  the    heavier    because   so  totally  un-. 


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I 


ABERDEEN   MINISTRY 


79 


expected.  Dr.  Alexander  Macgregor,  the  brother 
whose  influenee  and  example  had  so  deeply  affected 
George's  spiritual  history,  was  suddenly  called  away  | 
at  jthe  age  of  twenty-six.  These  things  gave  a 
peculiar  seriousness  and  depth  of  tone  from  the  first 
to  the  ministry  that  was  about  to  open.  It  seemeH 
also  to  quicken  that  presentiment  which  was  with 
him,  as  these  letters  showed,  in  his  student  days,  and" 
never  afteii\vards  left  him,  that  his  own  time  for  work 
wo^Jld;  no*:;  be  long.  In  any  case,  it  was  a  trumpet 
call  bidding"  him  redeem  the  time. 

\    FROM  HIS  JOURNAL 

Monday:,  April  30,  1888. — Dear  father  died  at  2  p.m. 
The  end  come  at  last.    O  Lord,  sanctify  thisi  trial  to  us  all. 
May  we  be  more  consecrated.    Blessed  are  the  dead  which, 
die  in  the  Lord.  •      .       > 

Wednesday y  J/rty  2.— Still  in  Edinburgh.  ^^/A^^         tts^ 
less  in  the  morning.    Called  on  Dr.  Wilso^llid  said  golH^ 
bye  to  him.    Received  license  as  a  prtKtcHer  from  the. 
Edin|)urgh  Presbytery  along  with  Gardner,  Telfer,  Macleod, 
Meiklejohn.    Left  by  a  night  train  for  home. 

7%«/-J</ay.— Father's  funeral.  A  very,  large  turn-out  of 
ministers  and  friends.  Uncle  John  here,  all  the  Presbytery 
and  ma^y  others^  and  a  large  attendance  of  people.  He  is 
laid  beside  our  dear  mother.  It  was  a  tertibly  trying  time, 
for  pogr  mamma,  but  she  bears  up  wonderfully.'  The 
evening  spent  in  sadness,  ^ye  only  now  begin  to  jealize 
wfiat  a  terrible  blatik  there  is  among  us. 

Friday. — My  formal  election  to  the  Free  East,  Aberdeen, 


.->. ; 


1r 


80 


GEORQi:   H.  C   MACGREGOR 


took  place  this  day.  Father  was  looking  forward  to 
coming  to  my  settlement^  and  now  he  is  gone.  Man  pro- 
poses, hut  God  disposes. 

Monday^  May  38.— Dear  Alec  died  suddenly  at  Cater- 
ham  Valley  at  4.30.'  He  cpmplained  of  headache  on 
Friday,  and  was  in  bed  all  Saturday.  On  Monday  he  was 
up.  At  four  o'clock  he  was  fn  the  drawing-room,  and  the 
ladies  wished  him  to  have  some  \t%  He  went  to  his  own 
room  to  have  some  soiip,  and  while  taking  it,  gave  £(^  short 
cough,  and  threw  back  his  head  and  expirM.  Jack  went 
down  some  time  after\^ard5  and  saw  him.  He  was  twenty- 
six.  jGod  have  mercy  upon  us,  for  this  is  dreadful. 

Ti^Mif/a^,  29.— in  the  evening  got  news  of  Alec's  death'. 
It  was  a  terrible  shook,to  us  all.       . 

Wednesday.— "^p  sleep*  Up  at  six,  anjd  away  to  Ding- 
wall. Wired  to  Jack  to  bring  remains '  northj^^ossible. 
The  news  has  given  a  t£frrible  shonflB^all' th^ 
countryside,  the  dear  boy  was  so  much  lov6d.^  . 


■I  :■• 


^4 


Straight  /rom  this  valley  of  the  shadow  he  pf o- 
ceedeid  to  Jthe  preparations  for  his  ordination.  The 
brief  entries  indicate  "the  kind  pf  awe  which  filled  his 
spirit,  entering  on  so  great  a  work  in,  circumstances 
so  solemnizing.  ^;- 


•■    4'- 


^  7JS«;-^ifly,/««(ft4.^My  twenty-fourth  birthday.  What 
a  critical  time  in  my  history  it  is !  Lord,  take  me  to  be 
Thine  more  than  ever !  Make  me  Thine  in  body,  soul, 
and  spirit.  Grant  that  this  era  may  be  filled  up  with  good 
service  to  my  Lord  and  Master. 

Thursday,  2&.'::^My  ordination  day.     In  the  house  all 


^« 


ja-  .- 


ABERDEEN  MINISTRY 


■ .  '■%^-r' 


8i 


morning.  Uncle  John,  George  Ross,  Bpssie,  and  many' 
other  friends.  Gdt  a  very  solemn  charge  from  Kilpa^rick.: 
Shook  hands  with  the  people  as  they  left  the  church.  This 
,;  istliaicrisi*  pfmylife.  Lord,  let  Thy  Christ  be  given  to 
me.  Make^^e  a  temple  of  the  Holy  Qhost.  Make  my 
I  ministry  successful  in  the  highest  sense.  .  May  J  win  souls, 
and  build  them  up,  that  Thy  kingdom  may  be  advanced. 

'^  On  the  evening  after  the  ordination,  ajjpge  father- 

x^         '"f  °^  *h®  congregation   took   place,  tt  which  the 

.:     usual  gifts  were  made  to  the  young  minister,  and 

'    friends  spoke  words  of  congratulation  and  goodwill. 

His  own  speech  was  brief  and  modest,  but  set  forth 

with  perfect  ^distinctness  the  spirit  in  which  he  was 

taking  up  the  work.  '  v 

:.%       ■-   ■  ,.     ■      .    -     ....        ./   ■     ■■■,,',,..-  X-  .;  •■ 

.   ■  ■  ■     ■    .  .?'■.■  ..       \-' 

When  the  news  [of^y  election]  was  first  told^e  by  MrN 
McNeill,  J,  felt,  as  I  feel  to-night,  that  the  work  was  too 
great  fbr^eso  yoyng  and  so  comparatively  inexperienced 
,      ^       as   I,  and  my  first  impulse  was  to  withdraw  my  name 
altogether.     Yet,,  as  some    of  my   most   trusted  friends 
/    (Principal  Rainy  being  one  of  them)  said,  "When  a  cpn- 
•'     gregation  comes  like  this  to  any  one  and  says,  '^^e  wish 
you  to  be 'our  pastpr,'  that  is  a  request  no  one  dare  set 
aside."    When  I  thought  over  it,  it  seemed  to  me  that 
God's  hand  was  pointing  me  to  be  your  minister,  and  to 
try  to  serve  Christ  as  best  I  could.     I  want  to  thant  you 
for  the  great  kindness  yoii  have  ever  shown  me.    No 
soon^  had  I  accepted  your  call  than  I  got  some  letters 
\  from  hiembers  of  the  qpngregation  that  greatly  encouraged 

—  my  heart,  and  helped   me  to  keep  from  regretting  the 


■V. 


J. 


Sa 


GEORGE    H.   C.   MACGREGOR 


.  ,i '"  ■ 


decision  I  had  come  to.     I  have  also  to  thank  the  congre- 
gation to-night  for  the  great  sympathy  that  they  have  shown 
^to  me/  in   the  trying  circumstances  in  which,  by  God's 
providence,  I  have  been  placed.     In  the  midst  of  heart- 
rendmg  sorrow  I  have  felt  myself  supported  by  knowing 
that  many  among  you  were  praying  for  me  that  these  sore 
trials  may  be  blessed. 
Now  that  I  have  come  among  ybu,  as  your  minister,  I 
'•"wish  to  say  one  word.     I  feet  profoundly  conscious  to-night 
.of  my  owfx^uttgr  unfitness  for  the  work  with  which  I  am 
^now-fece  to  face.    .Qne  of  the, great  blessings  which  arise 
from  a  feeling  of  that  kind  is  that  ■we  are  driven,  back  on. 
God.    And  why  should  we  despair  of  any  work  if  it  is  true 
that  there  is  a  living  Holy  Ghost?    What  I  desire  to  do  is, 
to  have  faith  in-  God  as  a  living  God.    And  if  it  is  God's 
work,  and  we  are  merely  His  servants,  why  need  we.  fear  ? 
I  have  to  ask  fo>^ur  forbearance.     Therft^are  mistak^,, 
which  a  young  minist^^^s  almost  sure  to  make,  and-ni^hich 
I  shall  certainly  wake.     F'have'to  ask  your  forbearance  for 
these.    .    .     .     I  dp  expect  and  believe  that  I  shall  have 
the  most  cordial  co-operation  of  every  single  member  of 
the  church,      I  think  it  is  a  simple  disgrace  to  some 
churches  that  they  leave  almost  all  the  Ictive  work  of  the 
■fchurch  to  be  done  by  th^ij^ouriger  members.     And  this  is 
perhaps  why  itjs  often  inefficiently  done.     .     .    . 

I  am  determined,  iGod  helping  mCj  to  spend  and  be 
spent  irfyour  service,  and  I  do  trust  and  believe  that  you 
will  do  all  that  you  can  to  help  me.  I  draw  towards  the/ 
young  people,  and  expect  that  they  will  rally  round  m^ 
And  I  expect  sympathy  and  help  from  the  older  people, 
and  the  benefit  iand  experience  of  their  Christian  life,    ^d 


"^:  '  e 


■-V, 


N, 


ABERDEEN  MINISfjTRY 


»3« 


from  all  I  do  expect,  and  demand  as  my  right,  your  earnest 
prayers  to  God  on  my  behalf,  that  I  may  be  earnest  and 
faithful  in  His  work  among  you.  I  am  a  great  believer  in 
joy,  and  in  putting  as  much  joy  into  my  work  as  I  can.  I^ 
gaon  in  hope  and  faith.  It  is  Christ's  work,  and  I  believe 
that  His  kingdom  is/coming.  I  pray  that  you  and!  may 
take  as  our  mptto  these  words;  /«////  go  in  the  strength  of" 
the  Lord  God:  I  will  mdhe  mention  of  Thy  tighteousneis^ 
even  of  Thim  only.  ... 

A  tnefliorable  address^  surely.  What  strikes  one 
most  about  it  perhap3,  is  its  illustration  of  the  re- 
markable unity  of  hisJabrk,  and  of  the  spirit  he 
worked  in,  froni  first  to  lasti'  Here,  in  sentence  after 
sentence,  are  precisely  the  truths  and  ide^s  on  whigh 
he  most  insisted  to  the  very  end.  "We  are  driven 
back  on  Goid."  "AWhy  despair  pf  any  worl?,  if  there 
is  a  living  Holy  Ghost?  "  "  I  aril Vgreat  believer  in 
joy.'i.  "I  demand  as  a  right  yout  prayers  for  me." 
Thus  in  faith  and  prayer  he  commenced  his  ministry 
in  Aberdeen.  Outward  and  visible  success,  seldom; 
equalled,  soon  attended  it.  The  inward  and  deepeir 
results  only  the  Day  can  decWe.  / 


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ABERDEEN   MINISTRY 

{continued) 


H 


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V 


CHAPTER  VI 

■  <.'  ■  ■"  . . 

Aberdeen  Ministfy  {continued) 

THE  East  Church  seemed  by  the  year  1888  to 
have  passed  its  meridian.  In  Aberdeen,  as  in 
other  large  cities,  there  was  a  steady  exodus  of  the 
wealthier  people  towards  the  suburbs.  New  ehurches 
in  the  west  and  north-west  districts  were  attracting 
many  families  formerly  connected  with  the  city  con' 
gregations.  Dr.  George  Adam  Smith  was  at  the 
height  of  his  influence  and  popularity  in  Queens 
Cross,  and  Mr.  Kilpatrick  had  just  come  to  Ferryhill. 
Other  pulpits  J^f^--<^^  ^^^^  ^^^y  ^Hed.  It  was  in 
the  nature  of  mffigs  that  the  town  churches  must 
suffer.  The  membership  of  the  East  -Churclj  had 
been  slowly  declining  for  several  years,  and  loyal 
and  steadfast  as  office-bearers  and  people  were,  it 
could  hardly  have  been  imagined  by  the  most 
sanguine  that  ar|  efa  of  great  progress  and  ex- 
pansion was  before"^hem. 

It  was  not  long,  however,  before  the  ebbing  tide 
was  checked,  and  a  new  flood  tide  began.  Figures, 
though  a  poor  indication  of  spiritual  results,  have 
an  undeniable  tale  oifth^ir  own  to  tell.    The  member- 


* 


t»  '"        'f^' ; 


88 


GEORGE   H.   C.   MACGREGOR 


ship  of  the  congregation,  when  Mr.  Macgregor  was 
ordainctl,  was  little  more  than  500.  At  the  close 
of  his  first  winter's  work,  when,  according  to  the 
practice  of  the  Free  Church,  the  annual  returns 
are  made  uji  In  March,  It  amounted  to  6^,  By 
March,  1890,  this  had  risen  to  ^^76;  and  this  again 
rose  to  901  in  March,  1891.  The  ca{>acity  of  the 
bMtlding  would  not  allow  the  increase  to  go  on 
at  this  phenomenal  rate,  but  progress  still  continued 
steadily  and  surely,  till  in  1894,  when  Mr.  Macgregor 
left  to  go  to  London,  the  roll  of  inerjibcrshlp  con- 
tained 1,037  names.  The  groWth  of  numbers  is 
only  one  part,  and  often  the  least  part,  of  true 
congregational  prosperity.  But  other,  antl  in  some 
ways  deeper,  signs  \yerd  never  lacking.  The 
liberality  and  the  activity  of  the  pe<jple  in  Christian 
work  increased  in  at  least  an  ecfual  nicasure.  It  was 
a  beautiful  sight  to  see  the  East  Church  in  those 
days.  The  brightness  and  kindliness  of  the  young 
minister,  who  remembered  ev«ry  one  and  had  the 
right  word  ready  for  each,  the  peculiar  authority 
that  always  sounded  in  hfo  message  and  appeared 
in  his  bearing  as  the  messenger,  the  loyal  support 
of  the  office-bearers,  the  heartiness  and  affection  of 
the  people,  the  animation  and  intelligence  of  the 
Bible  classes,  the  joy  of  young  disciples  and  the 
sober  wisdom  and  maturity  of  older  ones— all  made 
a  strong  impression  upon  those  who  came  to  take 


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AnrCRPREN   MINISTRY 


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89 

other 


part    in   the.  services    at    commriiiiouM    and 
leasons,  as  a  picture  not  to  Ik  fori^otten. 

From  tijc  first  his  ministry  waa  of  a  markedly 
cvangeh'.stic  ty|)c.  To  nine-tenths  of  those  to  whom 
he  prciched,  the  great  truths  of  the  Gosjk:!  were  as 
familiar  as  they  were  to  himself.  In  tlic  county,  andL 
especially  in  the  city,  of  Aberdeen,  the  educational 
standard  is  higher  than  anywhere  else  in  Scotland, 
and  the  people's  intelligence  may  jjpmctimcs  form 
one  of  the  pieacher's  great  dillkulfics.  It  seems 
impossible  to  tell  them  what  they  do  not  already 
know,  or  to  break  down  a  certain  self-esteem  and 
self-righteousness  which  such  knowledge  creates. 
Wesley,  in  his  own  keen  way,  long  ago  noted  in 
his  Journal  what  is  still  apt  to  be  the  fault  of  a 
Scottish  audience.  "The  greatest  part  of  them," 
he  wrote,  "  hear  much,  know  everything,  and  feel 
nothing."  "The  generality  are  so  wiSo  that  they 
need  no  more  knowledge,  and  so  good  thtit  'they 
need  no  more  religion"  (Wesley's  Journal^  May  15 
and  21,  1774).  This,  no  doubt,  was  during  the 
age  of  Modcratwm,  but  there  has  always  been 
enough  truth  in  it  to  impose  on  the  Scottish 
ministry  a  special  duty  of  speaking  to  the  heart. 

.0  ... 

From  the-  beginning  it  was  ^r.  Macgregor's  grejif* 
aim  to  do  this,  and  while  taking  full  advantage  of 
the   intelligence,    interest,    and    kindliness    already 
there,  to  kindle  all  with  the  flame  of  real  devotion 


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90 


GEORGE    H.  G.  MACGREGOR 


to  Christ.     The  great  necessity  of  conversion  was 

'  the  paramount  fact  in  his  preaching.  Our  Lord's 
words,  "  Ye  must  be  born  again/'  were  the  constant 

y  key-note.  A  personal  relation  to  Christ,  attained 
through  a  personal  decision  by  the  grace  of  God's 
Holy  Spirit,--this  was  in  his  view  essential ;  and  if 
there,  was  not  thist  nothing  woidd  make  up  for  the 
absence  of  it*  It  was  no  new  gospel  in  Aberdeen, 
niqir  in  the  East  Church  ;  the  only  novelty  was  the 
ur^ncy  with  whicK  young  and  old  were  pressed  and 
constrained  to  choose  and  decide.      The  reserved 

,  Scotch  nature,  which  prefers  that  the  preacher  should 
state;  his  case'  clearly  and  logically,  and  then  leave 
the  audience,  like  a  jury,  to  make  up  their  minds 
at  leisure,  was  not  sure  .at  first  whether  it  relished 
so  definite  and  urgent  an  appeal  to  conscience  and 
will.  But  this  doiibt  was  not  of  long  cdfitinuance. 
The  granite  melted.  Tb  the  joy  of  the  godly  elders 
and  other  praying  people,  many  were  found  from 
the  first  offering  th'emselves  for  admission  to  church 
membership.  And  this  was  in  no  formal  or  con- 
ventional spirit,  for  the  young  minister  had  made  it 
abundantly  plain  that  he  invited  nope  to  join  except 
"such  as  were  being   saved."      Those   who   came 

.forward,  therefore^' were .  those  who  could  joyfully 
say,  in  most  cases  of  a  tjme  quite  recent:— 

O  happy  day,  that  fixed  my  choice  -     :   . 

.   On  Thee,  my  Saviour  and  my  ■God  1 


-V 


ABERDEEN  MINliSTRY 


9» 


In  February,  1890,  was  held  the  first  special 
mission  in  the  East  Chijrch  during  his  niinistry. 
The  missioner  was  the  Rev.  J.  J.  Mackay,  then  of 
Glasgow,  now  of  Hull.  What  this  brief  mission 
effected,  by  God's  blessing,  will  best  be  told  in  Mr. 
Macgregor's  own  words,  in  a  letter  sent  to  Mr. 
Mackay  a  few  weeks '  afterwards.  The  letter  is 
interesting  in  mor^^ays  than  one,  in  showing  his. 
definiteness  .of  aim  throughout  his  whole  ministry, 
and  not  merely  at  timps  of  some^^cial  effort,  and 
also  his  keen  insight  into  the  nature  and  working  of 
a  religious  movenient. 


'■V 


Your  visit  to  us  was/i  timie  of  great  joy  and  biessrng.> 
The  only  fault  we  had  to  find  with  it  was  that  it  was  so 
short.  This  was  all  the  more  to  be  regretted,  as  the 
amount  of  preparatory  work  to  be  done  was  so  great.  ' 
A  congregation  in  which  there  has  been  no  Such  effort 
made  for  over  twenty  years  does  not  all  at  Once  come 
into  line.  Prejudice  has  to  be  broken  down,  doubts 
have  to  be  removed,  ere  all  will  throw  themselves  into 
the  work.  • 

Owing  to  this  fact  and  to  the  shortness  of  your  visit, 
what  one  might  call  tl\e  indirect  results  have  been  far 
more  important  than  the  direet  results,  and  it  is  of  the 
former  I  wish  chiefly  to  speak. 

But  first  of  all^  would  thankfully  acknowledge  the 
direct  and  immediate  ^sults  of  the  meetings  in  decisions 
for  Christ.  These  havel>een  much  more  numerous  than 
one  would  judge  by  the  afteNneetings.    Several  cases  we 


9a 


GEORGE  H.  C.  MACGREGOR 


knew  nothing  of  at  the  time  have  already  come  u^idler  my 
notice,  and  I  believe  the  lapse  of  time  will  reveal  many 
more.,- 

The  indirect  results  of  the  work  1  would  summarise  in 
:-this"way  :■/  ■;  ■  ,;;-^ 

1.  The  breaking  down  of  the  prejudice  in  the  minds  of 
many  against  evangelistic  w^k.'   The  prejudice  arose  from  / 
ignorance  of  what  it  was,^  from  disgust  at  a  shallow,* 

_   superBcial  kind  of  evangelism  that  is  too  common.    Thef 
removal  of  this  clears  the  way  for  future  effort. 

2.  The  awakening  of  Christian  workers  to  the  fact  that 
immediate  results  are  attainable,  and  ought  to  be  looked 

•  for.  Your  visit  was  a  time  of  special  blessing  to  the 
workers.  They  learned  better  how  to  work,  and  their  faith 
and  consecration  were  deepened. 

3.  The  breaking  down  of  stiffness  among  the  people, 
and  the  begetting  of  a  willingness  to  speak  about  spiritual 
things.  I  think  I  have  spoken  to  more  people  at  their 
own  request  since  your  visit  than  during  a  year  previous. 

4.  The  awakening  of  professing  Christians  to  a  sense  of 
short-coming.  You  did  better  work  at  the  Bible  readings 
than  you  Jcnew.  They  were  a  means  of  bringing  many  to 
a  truer  id^  of  what  following  Christ  meant  than  they  ever 
had.  ^he  quickening  that  the  Lord's  people  received 
during^  these  days  is  making  itself  felt  in  all  our  work. 

5./The  kindling  among  us  of  the  spirit  of  prayer.  This 
is  lierhaps  the  most  visible/  and  in  some  respects  the 
naxSst  remarkable  result  of  all.  The  Wednesday  Prayer 
Meeting  feels  it,  and  where  we  used  to  have  difficulty 
in  getting  one  to  pray,  we  now  get  six.  We  have  started 
a  prayer  meeting  on  the  Sabbath  morning  before  service, 


ABERDEEN  MINISTRY 


93 


and  our  little  hall  is  crowded  to  intercede  for  divine 
blessing  on  the  work  of'  the  day.  And  along  with  this 
desire  for  prayer  comes  expectation  of  blessing,  and  when 

•  '  ■  ■  ,  "  ■  -  ■  ■ . 

these  two  come  together,  blessing  is  never  far  off. 

How  much  of  that  >jreek*s  happy  harvest  was  due 
to  the  patient,  prayerful  toil  of  the  previous  eighteen 
months!  One  who  is  now  an  earnest  minister  of 
.  Christ  tells  how  strongly  prejudiced  he  had  been  at 
first  against  the  young  preacher,  whose  praises' the 
rest  of  his  family  and  many  friends  were  constantly 
singing,  and  how  keenly  he  resented  the  searching, 
faithful  preachingi  which  came  so  close  to  the  con- 
science  and  seemed,  as  it  were,  to  demand  a,  reply  for 
Christ.  But  God 'S  Spirit  was  dealing  with  him,  and 
though  often  he  would  fain  have  turned  away  and 
gone  to  some  other  church,  he  still  felt  th^t  he  could 
not,  until  matters  were  brought  to  a  clear  issue.  The 
crisis  came  during  that  rtiission  week,  when  the  young 
man,  blameless  and  honourable  hitherto,  but  without 
a  definite  relation  to  Christ,  and  so  without  power  in 
his  life,  made  the  simple,  whole-hearted  surrender  by 
wjjieli  we  receive  all.  - 

Thus  the  six  years  in  Aberdeen  constituted  from 
the  first  a  definitely  evangelistic  ministry.  Its  great 
object,  that  is  to  say,  was  to  bring  m^n  and  women  to 
God.  A  ministry  of  this  kind  is  apt  sometimes  to  be 
disparaged,  ncft,  surely,  for  the  enH  it ;  aims  at,  but  for 
the  methods  which  it  is  supposed  to  employ.    In  his 


■.#.' 


94 


GEORGE   H.   C.   MACGREGOR 


letter  to  Mr.  Mackay  we  have  seen  Mr.  Macgregor 
refer  to  the  mischief  which  a  shallow  kind  of  evangel- 
ism had  done,  and   the  distrust    awakened   by  It 
Nothing  cotild  be  more  distasteful  to  him  than  such  a 
so-called  evangelism,  and  nothing  more  unlike  what 
he  had  set  before  himself  from  the  first.     If  he  was 
anything,  he  was  a  student,  and  an  unsparing  worker. 
He  was  also  a  born  teacher,  and  had  the  knack  of 
making  others  both  think  and  work.     If  he  made  his 
Bible  class  work  in  a  remote  Ross-shire  parish,  he 
was  not  likely  to  alter  his  method  in  a  great  intel- 
Mectual  centre  like  Aberdeen.    And  if  he  had  altered 
it,  he  would  not  have  retained,  however  earnest  his 
appeals,  the  intellectual  respect  of  such  men  as  were 
numbered  in  his  congreigation.    With  the  methods, 
then,  of  a  thinker  and  a  student  ;•  with  thorough  pre- 
paration for  the  pulpit  and  for  every  public  appear- 
ance he  had  to  make ;  using  every  mear.s  moreover, 
to    promote    intellectual    improvement,   by  literary 
societies,  unions  fof  Bible  study,  and  every  similar 
effort ;  he  pursued,  all  through,  the  one  great  aim  of 
bringing  souls  to  God,  and  building  them  up  in' Him. 
From  his  first  appearance  in  the  pulpit  of  the  Free 
East  Church  (writes  one  closely  associated  with  his 
work  there,  Mr.  Thomas  Ogilvie),  he  awakened  the 
interest  and  won  the  hearts  of  our  people. 


Hie  was  essentially  a  popular  preacher,  but  his  popularity 


ABERDEEN  MINISTRY      ^  '1 


95 


was  not  gained  by  any  sensational  effort^  These  he  did 
not  require,  for  he  possessed  in  happy  combination  the 
qualities  of  all  acceptable  speech.  His  fluency  and  grace* 
distinctness  of  enunciation,  and  music£^  voice  enabled  hiro 
to  speak  without  eflbrt  in  our  largest  churches  and  halls, 
and  gave  to  his  earnest  message  a  rare  charm  and  per- 
suasiveness. Full  scholarship  gave  body  to  his  discourses, 
and  his  rich  imagination  brightened  them  with  telling  and 
apposite  illustration.  But  the  true  secret  of  his  success  lay 
deeper  than  any  natural  endowments— in  his  spiritual  en- 
thusiasm, his  fervid  earnestness.  This  fused  all  in  a  glowing 
,zeal  for  souls. 

He  felt  he  had  a  message,— and  he  could  make  men  feel 
the  burden  of  it— "  Repentance  towards  God  and  faith  to 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  In  the  faith  of  this  message,  he 
believed  in  looking  for  and  expecting  results,  and  his  hope 
was  not  fruitless.  He  had  much  to  encourage  him  in  Aber- 
deen^  more  especially  in  his  work  among  young  men  and 
young  women.  Striking  instances,  not  a  few,  of  the  results 
of  his  ministry  have  come  under  my  own  observation. 
Individuals,  and  in  one  case  a  whole  family  together,  were 
led  to  faith  in  Christ 

I  think  (says  another)  the  ministry  of  the,  first  three 
years  was  more  productive  of  definite  results  iri  the  way  of 
conversions  than  the  latter  years.  These  were  largely  de- 
voted to  an  expansion  of  what  has  been  called  holiness 
teaching,  and  the  result  was  evident  iq  the  deepened  spirit- 
ual life  of  the  congregation.  It  was  particularly  helpful  to 
those—and  they  were  many— who,  like  myself,  had  been 
brought  to  decision,  and  were  endeavouring  to  take  a 
definite  stand  on  the  side  of  Christ 


::i 


\i-. 


*•■;. 


96 


GEORGE    H.  C.   MACGREGOR 


The  visit  to  Keswick  in  1889,  to  be  described  in 
the  next  chapter,  was  not  only  an  epoch  in  his  own 
life,  but  an  era  in  his  ministry.  It  did  not,  however, 
change  either  the  direction  or  the  end  of  the  latter, 
though  it  perhaps  indicated  more  specifically  what 
was  to  be  pursued,  and  the^  methods  by  which  to  pur- 
sue it  Evangelicar  preaching  in  Scotland  has  never 
contented  itself  with  preaching  forgiveness  only,  or 
failed  to  hold  up  a  lofty  standard  of  Christian  living. 
It  has  ever  taken  St.  Paul's  words  to  the  gaoler  in 
theirfull  extent,  not:  Believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 


A 


and  thou  shalt  be  pardoned,  bu 


Believe  in  the  Lord 
saved ;  and  its  appeal 


Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be 
to  bttrdened  souls  has  always  been,  not  merely  to  cast 
th^ir^lt  upon  the  Sin-Bearer,  but  to  surrender  them- 
selves wholly  to  Christ  as  Saviour  and  Lord.  It  must 
be  noted,  too,  that  Mr.  Macgregor'is  relation  to  the- 
Keswick  movement  was,  after  the  first  deep  impression 
it  made  on  him,one  of  remarkable  independence.  After 
his  first  memorable  visit  in  1 889,  he  did  not  return  for 
three  years,  various^  causes  making  it  impossible  for 
him  to  be  present  at  the  Convention  either  in  1 890  or 
1891  ;  and  when  he  returned  in  1892,  he  did  so,  not 
merely  as  a  listener,  but  as  a  speaker.  In  the  interval 
he  had  been  working  out,  under  the  Spirit's  own  guid- 
ance, what  he  had  at  first  learned  and  received.  This 
gave  his  teaching  a  peculiar  weight.  He  coiild  say 
with  truth,  "I  neither  received  it  of  man,  neither  was  I  v/ 


1 

I 
a 
1 
t 

G 


ABERDEEN  MINISTRY  gy 

taught  It,  but  by  the  revelation  of  Jesus  Christ."  In 
the  Aberdeen  ministry  the  effect  of  the  Keswick 
movement  on  the  young  minister  was  seen  in  a^more 
definite  aiming  after  hohness.and  a  more  constant  em- 
phasis laid  on  the  call  to  life  in  the  Spirit.  Itwasseen 
also,  as  time  Went  on,  in  a  different  way,  in  the  more 
frequent  calls  addressed  to  him  to  assist  at  conven- 

tions  and  gatherings  for  the  promotion  of  Aoliness  all 
over  the  country.  j^ 

In  any  case  his  fame  would  soon  have  spread.     It 
is  not  possible,  in  a  comparatively  small  country  like 
Scotland,  for  a  youth  fresh  from  college  to  be  planted 
in  a  large  city  congregation,  and  forthwith  add  to  it  a 
hundred  members  every  year,  without  the  country 
knowing  of  it    He  was  soon  invited  far  and  near  to 
assist  at  communions  or  conduct  missions.    He  spoke 
in  the  General  Assembly  on  religion  and  morals.    He 
was  sent  to  preach  for  two  months  at  a  Continental 
station.     He  was  irtvited  to  speak  at  the  i'erth  Con- 
ference.   This  remarkable  gathering,  held  in  early 
autumn  in  the  \  beautiful  city  by  the  Tay,    dates 
from  i«6i,  and  is  associated  with  tender  and  solemn 
memories  of  the  revival  of  1859-60,  with  such  saintly 
ministers  as  John  Milne,  Andrew  Bonar,  and  Alex- 
ander Moody  Stuart,  as   well   as   devoted  laymen 
like  Brownlow  North,  Hay  MacDowall  Gyant,  and 
the  eighth  Earl  of  Kintore.    But  the  recollections 
of  some  of  the  older  attenders  of  the  gathering 

i  '.  *^*r  V    ■  .*.  .  ■  ^  ■  ■    ^    ' .   -' ' ' 


T 


.-■  .  { 


./■'": 


98 


GEORGE    H.  C.   MACGREGOR 


go  farthor  back,  to  an  earlier  movement  in  which 
some  of  these  also  took  part ;  and  it  was  here,  when 
G^rge  Macgregor  first  appeared  on  the  platform  in 
1 8^1,  that  the  tall,  slender  figure,  the  earnest  voice,  the 
mingled  tenderness  and  deep  seriousness  of  manner, 
the  Idying  and  winning  presentation  of  the  Gospel, 
struck  some  with  a  strange  sense,  as  of  something 
familiar.  It  was  like  the  voice  they  knew  once,  that 
now  for  fifty  years  had  been  singing  the  new  song  in 
glory.     It  was  Robert  McCheyne  come  back, 

Midway  in  the  happy  Aberdeen  ministry  came  Mr. 
MacgregQr's  marriage.  On  the  isth  July,  1891,  he 
was  married  to  Miss  Agnes  Amelia  Rose,  elder 
daughtdl"  of  his  devoted  elder  and  fellow-worker,  Mr. 
James  Rose,  of  Hazlehead.  "  Seldom,"  said  the  Con' 
grigdtional Magazine  in  its  notice  of  the  wedding,  "has 
a  minister  chosen  a  bride  from  amongst  a  family  whose 
antecedents  and  immediate  surroundings  have  beqrt 
more  favourable  to  the  development  of  every  Chris- 
tian virtue."  It  proved,  indeed,  a  union  of  ideal 
brightness  and  happiness.  He  found  in  his  home  a 
true  temple  6f  peace.  His  wife  entered  heart  and 
soul  into  all  his  work,  and  cheerfully  accepted  the 
many  absences  from  home  which  that  work,  especially 
in  more  recent  years,  entailed.  Their  children  are 
George  Hogarth  Carnaby,  born  in  Aberdeen,  No- 
vember 2$,  1892,  an<f  Agnes  Rose,  born  in  London, 
i^J^mber  21,  iy894.     - 


» 


r,?? 


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.  /■■ .  '■  ■ 


ABERDEEN  MINISTRY 


99 


Of  the  great  congregational  activity  and  prosperity 
of  these  years  the  most  evident  outward  token  was 
the  splendid  suite  of  halls  and  class-rooms,  adjoining 
the  church,  formed  by  the  purchase  and  alteration  of 
the  South  Church,  after  that  congregation  had  removed 
to  a  new  building.    This  was  accomplished  in  1893, 
at  a  cost  of  almost  ;^5,cxx),  and  minister  and  people 
saw  with  thankful  hearts  the  admirable  appliances 
and  facilities  for  work  which  were  now    in    their 
hands.    With  so  much  of  progress  and  gain,  these 
yea^ad  also  their  tale  of  heavy  loss.    The  three  men 
Whoself&mes  figure  largest  in  the  records  of  the  Free 
East  Qnirch  at  that  time  were  all  rem9ved  by  death ; 
Mr.  William  Rose,  and  Mr.  Murray  Garden,  within  a 
few  days  of  each  other,  in  March,  1891,  and  Dr.  . 
William  Alexander  in  February,  1894.    Mr.  Rose  h^ad 
passed  the  allotted  term  of  human  life,  and  Dr.  Atesl- 
ander  had  nearly  reached  it,  but  Mr.  Murray  Garden 
was  called  away  from  his  wife  and  children,  his  great 
work  and  still  greater  promise,  aUbrty-five.  The  effect 
of  thesQ  things  seemed  to  be  an  added  seriousness,  a 
yet  deeper  intensity  of  purpose    and  consecration, 
marking  Mr.  Macgregor's  ministry. 

Another  death  there  was,  which  was  deeply  felt  by 
many  in  the  congregation  and  by  the  minister.  On 
the  3ist  March,  1894,  Professor  Robertson  Smith 
passed  away,  and  Mr,    Macgregor's  tribute  to    his 


^ 


"N 


A'' 


100 


GEORGE    II.  C.   MACGREGOR 


memory  was  so  warm  and  so  striking  that  some  sen* 
tences  from  it  may  l3e  quoted. 

It  was  Dr.  Smith's  misfortune,  as  a  teacher  (he  said),  to  be 
some  years  in  advance  of  opinion  in  his  Church.  He  had 
to  break  new  ground,  to  train  men  to  new  ways  of  thought, 
and  because  he  was  in  advance  of  his  age,  like  all  others 
who  have  been  in  advance  of  their  age,  he  had  to  pay  the 
penalty  in  the  hostility,  and  even  hatred,  wltich  he  aroused  ; 
hatred  no  doubt  in  a^mea^ur^^lanced  by  the  extraordin- 
ary enthusiasm  which  his  cause  wakened  in  the  minds  of 
many.  He  had  to  fight  a  battle  for  liberty,  and  although 
he  suffered  in  it,  he  had  the  satisfaction,  ere  he  die4  of 
seeing  victory  won  along  the  whole  line.  His  removal  is  a  > 
great  loss  to  the  cause  ot  Christian  learning,  for  Dr.  Smith, 
although  a  rigorous  and  scientific  critic  of  the  Bible,  was  a 
reverent  and  a  believing  critic.  The  Jehovah,  Whose 
Revelation  of  Himself  he  found  in  the  Old  Testament, 
was  to  him  the  God  and  Father  of  his  Lord  and  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ.  The  Bible  was  to  him  the. Word  of  God. 
In  the  Bible  he  heard  God  speak,  and  what  made  him  so 
brave  and  firm  and  persevering  in  his-studies,  and  so  faithful 
in  his  criticism,  was  his  determination  to  find  out,  so  far  as 
man  could  find  out,  the  way  in  which  this  God  had  revealed 
Himself.'  And  now  he  has  passed  away  from  us,  from 
the  place  where  knowledge  is  in  part  to  the  place  where  we 
know  even  as  we  are  known.  We  may  pray  that  in  an  age 
when  critical  views  are  spreading  so  fast,  and  when  ration- 
alistic views  are  so  prevalent,  men  may  be  raised  up  who, 
like  our  friend  who  has  just  gone,  may  be  valiant  for  truth 
and  for  the  Word  of  God.  x 


■0.- 


ABERDEEN   MINISTRY 


101 


These  were  almost  Mr.  Macgrcgor's  last  words  as 
an  Aberdeen  minister.    The  tie  to  his  first  and  wcll- 
loved  charge  was  about  to  be  severed.     A  few  weeks 
later,  he  was  inducted  to  his  new  congregation  in 
London.    But  the  church  and  the  city  where  he  had 
served  and  loved  and  prayed  could  never  be  divided 
from  his  heart     Last  spring,  a  month  before  his 
death,  he  was  in  Aberdeen,  conducting  a  mission  in 
connection  with  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion.   One  day,  with  his  wife,  he  weht  to  AUenvale 
Cemetery,  and  they  stood  by  Murray  Garden's  grave, 
looking  westward  to  the  old  Bridge  of  Dee,  with 
the  noble  river  swiftly  flowing  by.     There,  he  said,  in 
that  beautiful  God's-acre,  he  would  wish,  when  the 
time  came,  his  own  last  resting-place  to  be.    And  so 
there  they  have  laid  htm,  to  wait  for  the  manifesta- 
tion of  the  sons  of  God,  not  far  from  the  scene  of  the 
strenuous  and  happy  ministry  of  those  six  years. 


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CHAPTER  VII 

A  New  Secfet  of^j^ower 

T  N  the  summer  ^1889  Mr.  Macgregor  came  for  the 
4.  first  time  tortthe  Keswick  Convention.  He 
was  just  five-and-twenty,  at  the  close  of  the  first  year 
of  his  ministry  in  Aberdeen.  The  solemn  events  of 
the  previous  year*  the  death  of  his  venerable  father 
and  his  brother's  unlooked-for  summons  home^  still 
cji^fe  their  sha4cws  over  him;  he  was  still  feeling  the 
awful  solemnity  of  life  with  that  peculiar  emphasis 
which  bereavement  gives.  And  he  had  learned  a 
great  deal  through  his  year's  ministry.  To  every 
young  minister  that  first  year,  while  doubtless  one 
of  the  most  profitable,  is  also  one  of  the  most  trying 
seasons  in  his  life.  The  strain  of  the  weekly  prepara- 
tion, the  constant  production' of  new  sermons,  is 
hardest  then ;  and  most  m^n  are  visited  at  times  with 
a  painful  feeling,  either  that  they  must  soon  exhaust 
themselves,  or  be  driven  to  ring  the  changes  on  the 
same  great  truths  over  and  over  again.  This  difficulty, 
however,  Mr.  Macgregor  seems  scarcely  to  have  felt. 
His  mind  was  exceptionally  quick,  fertile,  and  well 
stored,  and  besides,  he  had  so  much  experience  already 


y 


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GEORGE   H.  C.  MACGREGOK 


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gained.  The  practical  difficulties,  however,  of  the 
pastorate  were  felt  by  him  as  by  others.  No  doubt 
he  was  painfully  cl^scious  of  many  mistakes,  oppor- 
tunities not  rightly  turned  to  account,  instances 
where  his  words  had  not  been  words  in  season,  where 
he  had  been  severe  when  he  ought  to  have  been 
sympathetic,  or  lax  and  negligent  when  he  ought  to 
have  been  faithful.  ''; 

The  annual  breathing-time  of  ht^  summer  holiday 
is  for  the  feiithful  minister  a  special  opportunity 
for  taking  heed  to  himself  and  to  his  flock.  While 
he  is  away  from  his  people  for  a  little,  it  is  his  fciusi- 
ness  not  merely  to  recruit  his  physical  energies,  but 
tOk^take  a  fresh  view  of  his  work  and  hiii  sphere  of 
labour,  their  speeiat  needs,  $|}ecial  openings  and 
opportunities,  as  from  a  little'  distance.  Special 
prayer  for  these  during  one's  time  of  rest  brings  its 
answer  in  the  times  of  afler-work.  Such  was  this 
young  minister's  mood  in  the  summer  of  1889. 
Deeply  thankful  for  a  year  of  much  encouragement 
and  not  a  little  progress,  hopeful  for  the  future,  but 
aware  of  many  of  his  own  and  his  people's  shortcom- 
ings, and  of  the  special  dangers  attachingto  the  very 
prosperity  and  outward  growth  which  was  so  cheer- 
ing, he  was  longing,  on  their,  behalf  and  his  own,  for  a 
fresh  secret  of  power,  a  new  baptism  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  Some  of  his  fellow-ministers  had  told  him  of 
the  quickening  and  joy  they  found  in  the  gatherings  at 


J 


» 


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» 


A  NEW  SECRET  OF  POWER 


to7 


Keswick,  and  he  resolved  to  begin  his  first  summer 
vacation  therCi,;  A  young  stranger,  knowing  no  one 
but  the  frien^  wtiom  he  travelled  with,  he  arrived  at 
the  place  wlirch  is  now,"  to  some,  so  peculiiirly  associ- 
ated with, him.  He  came  with  a  definite  purpose  and 
expectation.  His  was  not  the  attitude  of  mere 
curiosity,  to  find  out  what  this  new  thing  was. 
Some  of  us  hardly  ever  knew  him  in  that  attitude  on 
any  subject.  His  mind  ^ya3  so  quick  and  eager  that 
he  hardly  ever  seemed  to  come  to  any  enquiry  in  a 
vacant  or  neutral .  condition,  needing  to  have  the 
first  beginnings  oT  interest  awakened  for  him.  You 
generally  found  that,  whatever  the  subject,  he  had 
already  read  or  learned  and  thought  about  it  to  a 
considerable  extent,  and,  with  a  fair  general  idea  of 
what  he  was  to  hear,  was  prepared  to  receive  and  to 
form  his  judgment  of  all  farther  information  that 
might  be  forthcoming.  In  coming  to  Keswick,  then, 
he  did  not  come  in  ignorance.  But  he  came  as  a 
learner,  and  as  seeking  for  himself,  and  for  the  people 
over  whom  he  had  been  set  in  the  Lord,  the  secret  of 
a  more  abundant  life. 

The  story  of  the  remarkable  spiritual  movement, 
associated  for  the  last  five-and-twenty  years  with  the 
little  Cuniterland  town,  is  told  in  the  next  chapter. 
There,  toOj  the  part  which  for  eight  successive  years 
(1892-99)  George  Macgregor  bore  in  the  Convention 
is  set  foith  by  a  skilful  and  loving  hand.    Here  we 


\-f: 


11 


•=5jl»yfafflyy*»'*:^gfc'^. 


/**,'■  "-i^VV  »A%,j«i.»i,-i  •  -■".■  •ib'mi-**^.  .  ""■■>.--*»«.  -*V  - 


.»v 


w8  GEORGE    H.  C  MACGREGOR 

are    merely  to  trace   the  immediate  effect  of  that 
first  visit  to  Keswick,  and  what  foliowed  from  it,  in 
the  young  preacher's  own  life  and  ministry/Very 
close  and  sacred  are  the  glimpses  of  his  soul-exercise 
at  this  time  which  the  journal  reveals.    But  in  any 
case  a  biographer  would,  I  think,  be  well  justified 
in  giving  to  the  world  such  a  record  of  spiritual 
experience.    And,  indeed,  in  this  case  some  of  the 
more  intimate  and  personal  facts  have  been  made 
public  by  Mr.  Macgregor  himself,  in  the  touching 
and   remarkable  testimony  which  he  gave  at  the 
Convention  of  1893. 

Jufy  22,  i889,--Left  for  Keswick  for  the  Convention. 
Travelled  with  Mr.  Sloan  and  Mr.  Currie;  found  a  room, 
and  got  ready  for  work.  '  The  principal  speakers  are 
Mr.  Moule,  Mr.  Hopkins,  Mr.  Meyer,  Mr.  Brooke,  Mr. 
Fox,  etc 

Tuesday,  21.— \  cannot  speak  of  the  joy  of  this  after- 
noon. It  is  like  Heaven.  The  whole  city  is  possessed  by 
people  consecrated  to  God.  The  whole  of  this  day's  work 
was  most  humbling,  and  le^  me  to  commit  myself  to  God 
'"  ^^^"^r^S'"®"*  °^  "y  o*^"  special  sins.  The  Bible 
readinglS  the  morning  and  the  evening  meeting  different 
quite,.but  are  most  splendid, 

Wednesday,  24. -A  most  blessed  day,  in  which  1  com^ 
mitted  myself  into  God's  hatids  to  be  kept  for  Hin^  by  Him. 
I  consecrate  raysdf  this  day  to  be  the  Lord's. 

Thursday,  25.— In  Heaven  still.  Nearer,  my  God,  to 
Thee.^    Every  avenue  of  my  being  is  filled  with  Christ.    I 


*. 
.-/* 


p^'' 


^^■■l-i 


■  ■•~:mt 


A  NEW  SECRET  OF  POWER 


109 


desire  to  rest  in  Him.  What  a  Saviour  He  id !  .  .  .  It  Is 
so  striking  to  see  the  many  beaming  faces  of  those  who 
have  found  joy  in  the  risen  and  blessed  Christ. 

Ir$(fay,  26. — Closing  day  of  the  Convention.  'Fherewas 
a  solemn  prayer  meeting  in  the  morning.  ...  I  definitely 
committed  myself  to  God  to  be  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost 
for  His  service. 

Saturday,  27.— Mission  Day.  The  Convention  is  closed, 
but  a  missionary  meeting  held  at  10  o'clock.  Scores  of 
young  men  and  women  offered  themselves  as  mis- 
sionaries, and  several  hundred  pounds  were  offered  in 
token  of  blessings  received.  Had  a  sail  on  Derwerit-  , 
water. 

Sunday,  28. — At  Keswick,  a  day  of  unspeakable  blessing. 
In  the  morning  heard  Mr.  Moule  preach  in  St.  John's 
Church  oh  Psalm  xxxi.  19,  20,  "How great  is  Thy  good- 
ness." As  he  laid  before  us  God's  goodness,  I  was  com- 
pletely overcome,  and  went  home  and  had  a  passionate  fit 
of  weeping.  Rested  in  the  afternoon.  Heard  Meyer 
preach.  Then  a  very  solemn  after-meeting,  conducted  by 
Dr.  Elder^  Gumming  and  Mr.  Evan  Hopkins:  This  was 
a  final  dedication  of  ourselves  forever  to  Ae  service  of 
Christ 

That  Sunday,  evening  he  wrote  to  his  sister.  ^^ 

Sunday  JSvening,  July  2Z,iZZg.—i:hit  Convention  is  now 
over,  and  to-morrow  we  go  back  to  the  world.  To  say  I 
have  enjoyed  it  is  to  say  nothing.  To  call  it  Heaven  may 
seem  hyperbole,  but  it  is  perhaps  the  best  and  shortest  way 
of  speaking  of  it.  I  fear  1  shall  never  be  able  to  speak  of 
it.  The  joy  is  unspeakable  and  full  of  the  glory.  I  have 
learned  innumjerable  lessons,  jprincipally  these:   my  own 


\:. . 


':'■  :\ 


^: 


5p^*1fc^*^--.;i^*- 


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i 


no  GEORGE    H.  C.  MAC^GREGoi 

sinfulness  and  shortcoming.    I  have  been  searched  through 
and  through,  and  bared  and  exposed  and  scorched  by  God's 
searching  Spirit.    And  then  I  have  learned  the  unsearch- 
ableness  of  Christ.    How  Christ  is  magnified  here,  you  can 
have  scarcely  any  idea.    1  got  such  a  view  of  the  goodness 
;     of  God  to^jr^hat  it  made  me  weep.    I.  was  completely 
broken  down,  and  could  not  control  myself,  but  had  a  fit  of 
weeping.     And  I  have  learned  the  absolute  necessity  of 
obedience.    Given   obedience  and  faith,  nothing  is  Im- 
possible.    I  have  committed  myself  into  God's  hands  and 
He  has  taken  me,  and  life  can  never  be  the  same  again. 
It  must  be  infinitely  brighter  than  ever.     To-morrow,  D.V., 
'  I  go  to  Glasgow,  and  then  pass  on  as  rapidly  as  possible  to 
Inverness.    I  want  to  have  some  time  with  George  Ross. 
\.Then  to  Dingwall,  where!  shall  get  your  letters.    I  hope 
you  had  a  good  day.    God  bless  you  all. 
1-ove  from  your  boy, 
'■    "':;    '.■\    •'  ■''George./ 

These  entries  will,  of  course,  be  read  by  different 
people  with  different  eyes.     Here  was,  no  doubt,  a- 
deeply   emotional    nature,    responsive   to    spiritual 
inflaences  as  an  .Eolian  harp  is  played  on  by  the 
wind.     But  if  any  one  should  suppose  from  this 
that  the  effects  of  this  solemn  experience  were  only, 
or  even  chiefly,  in  the  region  of  the  emotions,  his 
mistake  wo.uld  be  of  the  greatest    Mr.  Macgregor's 
nature,  in  fact,  presented  a  union,  difficult  for  those 
who  did  not  know  him  tounderstand,  of  feeling,  in- 
tellect, and  strength  of  will*.    If  feeling  "overpowered" 
Mm^r  tb?  moment,  it  was  not  suffered  to  carry  him 


:  .'rt-r^iS^'Sm* 


^,^  . . 


■^T?  rjfT'Il^^f^sTV^^lSCjrW) 


\" 


A  NEW  SECRET  OF  POWER 


III 


away.  No  impulse  was  allowed  to  master  him  for 
which  he  could  not  find  intellectual  justification ;  and 
thenwhat  he  felt  and  experienced  his  resolute  will 
turned  into  a  force  of  life.  That  these  days  at 
Keswick  were  a  turning  point  in  his  life,  there  is 
not  the  smallest  doubt.  That  they  made  his  later 
ministry  what  it  was,  is  equally-certain.  To  say  that 
he  sometimes  appeared  to  claim  for  this  experience 
and  its  effects  more  than  the  facts  altogether 
warranted,  is  only  to  say  that,  though  „  remarkably 
enlightened  and  strengthened  by  God's  Spirit,  he 
remained  a  fallible  human  being.  But  no  one  who 
knew  George  Macgregor,  Wther  as  a,man  or  a 
minister,  before  that  crisis  and  after  it,  coul^  question 
that  he  found  then  a  new  secret  of  strength  both  for 
his  own  life  and  for  his  work. 

What  was  it,  then,  that  be  found?  The  mis- 
understanding, and jfeven  some  measure  of  distrust, 
with  which  what  ii  popularly  known  as  "Keswick 
teaching  "  is  sometimes  regarded,  is  doubtless  due  in 
part  to  a  way  of  sp4iking  as  if  this  teaching  were  a 
new  discovery,  unkitown  until  the  last  twenty  or 
thirty  years.  Divine  mruth  is  always  a  fresh  discovery 
to  the  soul  that  findsjit,  and  it  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at  that  young  disciples,  ready  to  testify  of  what  the 
Lord  had  done  for  them,  and  unaware  of  how  He  has 
led  and  manifestecLHimself  to  His  children  in  former 
days,  should  hav^  proclaimed  their  experience  as  a 


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OE,  H.   C.  MACGREGOR 


kind  of  new  thing  in  the  earth.    Such  language  Is,  of 
course,  unfounded,  and  may  arouse  prejudice.    It  has 
never  had  the  least  countenance  from  the  wise  leaders 
of  the  Keswick  movement.     Mr.  Macgregor  never 
failed  to  make  this  fact  emphatic  at  every  oppor- 
tunity.     There    is-  no    newly-discovered    truth    or 
teaching  in  the  case.     It  is  only  that  certain  parts 
\and  aspects  of  Scripture  truth,  which  have  some- 
tiB(ies  through  neglect  been  allowed  to  fall  into  the 
background,  are  here  asserted  with    special   force, 
coherence,  and  conviction. 

The  factsNiVhich  Keswick  emphasizes  are  chiefly 
these  three^the  place  of  fakh  in  sanctification,  the^ 
reality  of  the  mystical  union  between  Christ  and  the 
believer,  and  the  personality  and  power  of  the  Holy 
Ghost    As  regards  the  firsi  of  these,  it  comes  as  a 
corrective  of  one-sided  statements  of  truth.     We  are 
saved  by  faith.     This  salvation,  God's  gift,  is  un- 
^^oubtedly,g^regards  its  idea,  received  all  at  once. 
''  By  grace  We  ye  been  saved,  through  faith  "  (Eph. 
H.  S,  8);  "he  that  believeth  on  the  Son  hath  eternal 
life"  (John  iii.  36).    Yet  it  is  not  less  true  that  salva- 
tion  is  a  process,  advancing  through  suc^ssive  stages, 
lie  who  in  faith  casts  himself  on  God  in  Christ  is 
forthwith  justified  and  forgiven.    From  that  hour  he   ' 
has  the  life-giving  Spirit  of  God  implanted,  which 
works  in  him  to  make  him  holy,  and  he  is  kept  by 
th^  power  of  God  unto  the  g!||)riously  complete  and  >" 


.  :^:^i&. 


■■.  <, 


A  NpW  SECRET  OF  POWER  nj 

finaL'^alvatlon  (i  Pet.  I.  $).  Thus  in  one  sense  the 
bch'evcr  is  atvtotrnivo^  (Eph.  il.  5,  8),  one  who  has 
been  sav^d ;  in  another  he  is  still  only  ctoi^oiitvo^ 
(Acts  ii.  47),  one  who  is  being  saved,  or  guarded  unto 
salvation.  But  in  whichever  aspect  salvation  is  re- 
garded, whether  as  the  beginning  of  the  new  life  or 
as  its  completion,  whether  as  acceptance  and  for<^ 
giveness  or  as  the  whole  sublime  process  by  which 
man  is  brought  into  full  conformity  and  fellowship 
with  God,  faith  is  equally  the  condition  of  our  re- 
ceiving it  Faith  itself,  be  it  remembered,  is  no 
mere  human  act ;  It  is  a  grace,  a  gift  bestowed  by 
God.  But  there  can  be  no  doubt  that,'  even  while 
recognising  this,  Christian  people  have  not  always 
fully  perceived  the  part  which  faith  plays,  not  only 
in  the  first  stage  of  the  new  life,  but  all  through  it. 
In  our  justification,  faith,  which  lays  hold  on  Christ, 
is  the  condition  of  everything;  but  once  that  bless- 
ing is  received,  some  seem  to  think  that  in  the 
m^in  the  work  of  faith  is  done,  and  that  some  other 
grace,  in^^lying  more  personal  effort,  should  take  its 
:pkce.'   /       ^-^ 

This  feeling  or  impression,^for  such  it  is,  rather 
than  a  definite  opinion,-— is  described  by  Mr.  Mac- 
gregor  in  his  Httle  book.  So  Great  Salvation.  To 
make  his  meaning  clear  he  puts  it  in  an  extreme 


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You  let  God  justify  you,  but  thoqght  you  had  to  lanctify 
yourself.    For  the  pardon  of  sins  you  trusted  the  blood  ol 
Christ ;  .but  for  the  overcoming  of  sin  you  trusted  in  self- " 
effort.    You  believed  that  justification  was  a  gift  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  to  be  received  by  faith,  but  refused  to 
believe  that  sanctificatibn  is  the  work  of  the  Ix)rd  Jisi|' . 
ChrisU  and  that  the  power  to  overcome  sin  is  a  gift  of  llil^ 
Lord^  Jesus  received  by  faith.     You  thought  that  6©^ 
justified  you,  and  then  left  you  to  find  your  way  to  heaven'  ° 
alone— or  at  least  a  good  deal  alone  (pp.  165,  106).  .     ' 

It  sounds  Hke  blasphemy  when  thiis  j^\e9s\y  put 
Into  words,  but  does  riot  somethiog  noSpiiifnlike  it  in 
substance  lurk  still  in  many  minds?  "Against  it 
every  writer  on  sanctification,  worthy  of  the  name,  - 
from  Marshall  in  his  Gospel  Mysttry  downwards,  has  ' 
protested  and  warned.  There  is  a  difference,  uiy-  ° ' 
doubted  ly,  between  our  first  acceptance  with  God 
and  the  life  of  new  obedience  which  then  begins. 
To  speak  broadly  and  generally,  we  are  passive  in 
the  first,  active  in  the  second.  Yet,  in  a  deeper 
sense,  we  are  active  in  both  and  passive  in  both. 
In  both  we  surrender  and  yield  ourselves  entirely  to 
God  ;  and  in  both  everything  we  do  is  received  from 
and  bestowed  byrHim.  And  faith,  the  action  and 
energy  of  soul  byl  which  we  place  ourselves  in  union 
with  God,  is  the  coriJltiqn  of  both.  Not  only  arc  we 
justified  by  faith  ;  we  live  and  walk  by  faith.  "We 
through  the  spirit  by  faith  wait  for  the  hope  of 


A  NEW  SECRET  OF  POWER 


US 


righteousness"  (Gal,  v.  5);  we  are  guarded  by  the 
power  of  God  through  faith  unto  salvation.  Experi- 
ence sadly  shows  us  that  the  moment  faith,  the  80ui*i 
union  with  its  Lord,  fails  or  weakens,  that  moment 
we  are  defeated  and  fall.  A  calm,  progressive,  and 
victorious  life  is  only  possible  where  trust  In  the 
All-gracious  and    Almighty  Saviour  is  maintained 

•  moment  by  moment. 

The  second  great  fact  is  the  reality  of  the  mystical 

.  union.  This  simply  means  that  our  Lord's  words 
mean  what  they  say.  When  we  are  made  one  with 
Christ,  then  His  power  is  really  made  our?  for  the 
warfare  against  sin.  When  we  abide  in  Him,  we  are 
really  and  in  very  deed  Icept  by  Him.  At  no  point 
is  there  greater  need  of  wise  and  cautious  statement 
than  here,  for  unguarded  and  exaggerated  language 
may  go  veiy  near  the  claiming  o^actual  perfection. 
We  shall  see  how  Mr.  Macgregor  himself  did  not 
always  quite  escape  this  danger.  Yet  we  are  to 
understand  broadly  that  such  a  promise  as,  for  iti' 
siAvxcey*^  My  grace  is  sufficient  for  thee,"  is  not  to  be 
thinned  down  or  emptied  of  its  meaning.  If  we  are 
one  with  Him,  and  His  life  is  being  manifested  in  us, 
then  He  is  able  to  keep,  and  His  grace  is  sufficient 
There  is  here  not  the  smallest  dftaim  to  perfection. 
That  is  in  this  life  impossible,  alike  on  the  negative 
side  of  avoiding  every  transgression,  and,  still  more 
manifestly,  on  the  positive  side  of  attaining  full  con. 

'  ■  '  ■'  - .  ■•,   ■/'  ■  '■  ■  '  ■     ■  -:  ■ 


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GEORGE   U.  C.  MACGREGOR 


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formlty  to  the  Son  of  God.  But  without  any  thought 
of  what  is  unattainable,  it  is  certain  that  in  the  daily 
warfare  the  issue  in  innumerable  cases  would  be  very 
diflerent  if  we  could  but  remember,  and  act  upon  the 
remembrance,  that  Divine  help  is  ever  at  hand  for 
all  God's  children  to  claim,  and  that  He  means  us 
to  claim  it,  and  to  live  in  the  joy  and  power  which 
It  brings. 

The  third  great  fact  Is  the  Power  and  the  Person- 
ality of  the  Holy  Ghost.  This  requires  less  explana- 
tion. Alike  in  the  ancient  creeds  and  in  the  doctrinal 
standards  of  the  Reformation  this  great  common- 
place of  Christian  doctrine,  the  doctrine  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  is  duly  exalted.  In  timed  of  coldness  the 
Church  has  comparatively  lost  its  hold  of  this,  and 
has  suffered  accordingly.  But  at  present  there  is  no 
article  of  the  faith  more  lovingly  and  longingly 
studied,  and  that  in  every  branch  of  the  Church' 
In  the  Keswick  teaching  the  Holy  Spirit  occupies 
a  large  place ;  and  surely  it  is  the  reward  of  thus 
exalting  His  person  that  His  working  has  been  made 
so  manifest  v  •         y- 

Such  were  the  great    facts  which,  during  these 
summer  days,  were  so  brought  home  to  the  young 
minister's  heart  and  conscience.    It  was  not  that  the  / 
truths  themselves  were  altogether  new.      Most   pf 
what  he  heard  was  perfectly  ^familiar.    We  have  seen, 
^^.,  how  as  a  student  he  gave  strong  expression  to 


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A  NEW  SECRET  OF  POWER 


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the  view  that  sanctification  by  faith  ought  to  be  in< 
sisted  on  as  well  as  justification  by  faith.  Union  with 
the  Son  of  Gotl,  and  the  [Kjwcr  of  the  I  loly  Ghost, 
were  already  great  themes  in  his  preaching.  But 
now  all  this  came  home  to  him  with  a  new  force, 
which  he  was  constrained  to  recognise  as  the  working 
of  God's  Spirit.  And  the  effect  was  permanent,  both 
in  his  own  character  and  in  his  work  as  a  minister. 

The  effect  on  himself  was  of  a  kind  rather  to  be 
felt  than  expressed  in  words.  But  those  who  knew 
him  best  were  conscious  of  it,  and,  which  is  the  true 
test  of  a  genulo^  work,  increasingly  conscious  as 
years  passed  on.  Many,  I  think,  would  say  that  the 
maturing  and  deepening  were  more  striking  in  the 
last  three  or  f6ur  years  than  in  the  years  immediately 
following  1889,  But  one  striking  effect  was  very 
soon  discernible,  of  a  kind  which  may  well  be  re- 
corded, because  it  is  fitted  to  afford  encouragement 
and  hope  to  others.  Nature  had  given  him  a 
Peculiarly  .high-strung  nervous  temperament.  This 
Svas  ispecially  seen  from  his  childhood  iH  sudden  par*';^ 
oxysms  of  temper,  in  which  he  would  quiver  fr/m 
head  to  foot,  or  fling  himself  passionsttely  on  the 
floor.  Even  when  he  grew  up,  these  appear  to  have 
sometimes  recurred.  It  was  one  of  those  things 
which,  because  they  have  to  some  extent  a  physical 
basis,  even  good  men  sometimes  almo3t  acquiesce  in. 
One  has  heard  a -bSct  temper  spoken 


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xi8 


GEOfeGE   H.  C.  MACGREGOR 


or  a  "cross,"  as  if  it  were  like  lameness,  or  being 
obliged  to  winter  abroad,  a  thing  to  regret,  hut 
beyond  one's  control  or  power  to  alter,  to  be  accepted 
as  a  permanent  fact  of  a  human  personality.  That  it 
is  a  cross- Indeed,  every  Christian  man  cursed  with 
such  a,disposition  sadly  knows;  The  struggle  against 
it  is  often  deeply  discouraging ;  sometimes  the  only 
hope  seems  to  be  that  it  will  mellow  and  soften 
somewhat  as  life  advanc'es.  It  was  at  Keswick  that 
Mr.  Macgregor  first  learned  to  think  differently  about 
this.  There  he  learned  first  of  all,  as  never  before,  to 
understand  that  yielding  to  any  evil  tendency,  no 
matter  how  rooted  in  one's  nature,  were  it  hereditary 
twenty  times  over,  is  SIN.  And  God  does  not  mean 
His  children  to  live  in  any  kind  of  sin,  or  of  yielding 
to  sin.  He  calls  them  to  holiness;  and  when  He  so 
calls.  He  does  not  mock  them  by  pointing  to  im- 
possibilities. When  He  bids  men  seek  and  strive. 
He  waits  to  furnish  them  with  power,  and.  says, 
Nothing  shall  be  impossible  to  you.  We  are  not 
concerned  at  present  with  cases  where  some  moral 
evil  is  so  clearly  connected  with  physical  or  mental 
weakness  as  to  render  doubtfuL  the  exigence  of 
complete  responsibility.  Even  in  such  cases  re- 
markable effects  have  been  brought  about^  a  singular' 
strengthening  and  steadying  of  the  whole  nature, 
through  simple  faith  in  God.  At  present  we  are 
concerned  only  with  siich  a  case  as  that  before  us, 


i: 


A  NEW  SECRET  OF  POWER 


119 


i;: 


where,  as  the  result  shows,  the  weakness,  though 
it  might  be  called  "constitutional,"  was  not  in  a 
tcgion  beyond  the  control  of  the  will  In  that  season 
of  self-examination  and  soul^abasement  at  Keswick, 
when,  as  he  wrote,  "I  have  been  searched  through 
and  through,  and  bared,  and  exposed,  and  scorched 
by  God's  searching  Spirit,"  Mr.  Macgregor  had  a 
special  sense  of  the  evil,  and  made  a  special  agoniz- 
ing confession  to  God,  of  this  besetting  sin  of  temper. 
And  when,  after  these  days  of  consecration,  he  left 
Keswick,  certainlyi  to  a  very  large  extent,  the  evil 
temper  was  teft  behind,  From  that  time  he  was 
really,  irt  this  respect,  a  different  man;  Of  tourse  he 
never  claimed,  or  drisamed  of  claiming,  perfection  in 
the  matter.  He  would  never  have  said,  or  dreamed 
of  saying,  that  his  inward  disposition  was  all  that  it 
might  be,  or  that  it  ought  ta  be,  absolutely  conformed 
to  the  image  of  Christ  Man's  goodness  is  always 
defective.  Doubtless  at-  times  our  friend  Avas  ruffled. 
But -there  were  no  more  paroxysms,  and  those  who 
knew  him  best  knew  how  all  but  unvaryingly  serene 
his  temper  was. 

This  suppression  of  an  evil  temper,  however, 
though  a  very  noteworthy  thing,  is  only  a  negative 
effect  and  symptom  of  the  life  of  consecration.  The 
positive  side  of  the  matter  is  the  great  thing,  and 
that  is  the  surrender  of  the  whole  being  to  God. 
Those  who  knew  the  earnest  Christian  student,  and 


y 


zao 


GEORGE  H.  C.  MACGREGOR 


■ .    ^. 


the  devoted  young  preacher  and  pastor,  might  have 
doubted  if  for  him  there  could  be  finy  further 
surrender  than  that  which  had  already  taken  place. 
But  his  own  clear  view  wras  that  that  summer  at 
Keswick  some  last  barrier  was  swept  away,  and  God's 
Spirit  entered  into  his  life  in  full  possession. 

It  was  three  years  before  he  returned  to  Keswick, 
and  then  he  came  not  as  a  listener  merely,  b^t  as  a 
teacher.     These  thre^  years  had  been  for  him  a 
period  of  steady  gi'owth  and  advance.    The  very 
fact  that,  after  the  profound  impression  of  that  first 
visit,  so  considerable  an  interval  elapsed  before  his 
return,  had  given  his  thinking  on  all  the  subjects 
connected    with  holiness   a    relative  independence. 
His  ministry  on  this  blessed  theme  was  not  of  man, 
nor  after  man.    There  was  something  remarkable  in 
the  chain  of  events  which  led  to  his  being  invited  to 
speak  at  Keswick.    In  1890,  the  year  after  his  first 
visit,  hewas  sent  by  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland  for 
two  months  to  their  summer  chaplaincy  at  Pontresina. 
With  his  rare  faculty  of  enjoyment,  this  was  a  period 
for  him  of  intens^  delight,  and  some  of  the  friend- 
^ships  which  he  formed  then  were  a  possession  for  the 
||est   of  his  life.     Through  two  very  dear  friends 
whom  he  came  to  know  there,  and  who  had  been 
profoundly  impressed  by  his  ministry,  he  was  invited 
to  take  part  in  Ae  Croydon  Convention  of  1891 J 
there  Mr.  Robert  Wilson,  the  honoured  chairman  of 


:] 


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-Hiy- 


li: 


A  NEW  SECRET*  QF  POWER 


lai 


the  Keswick  Gortventfon  Trush 

once  invited  him  to  be  a  spc^aker  at  Keswick 

following  year.       J       >, 

Of  the  effect  of  all  this  orl  his  liiinistry  there  is 
abundant  evidence.  Perhaps  k  may  be  well  to  say, 
in  order  to  |  re-assure  some  Tieaders,  that  the  new 
spiritual  strength  and  joy  which  he  had  found  did 
not  make  him  work  or  study  less.  He  was  justly 
impatient  of  the  kind  of  spirituality  which  seems— 
strange  that  it  should  be  so— to  associate  itself  with, 
if  not  to  foster,  intellectual  slovenliness  or  laziness. 
How  can  a  man  pray  for  the  Holy  Spirit  to  go  with 
bywords,  unless  he  himself  does  his  very  best?  In 
"all  departmente  of  his  work— study,  preaching, 
classes,  pastoral  yisitation—Mr.  Macgregor  worked 
as  hard  and  unsparingly  as  ever.  But  the  new  power 
for  service  which  he  had  found  was  seen  in  greater 
fruit  and  deeper  results  attending  his  ministry. 
And  perhaps  most  striking  of  all,  so  far  as  he  was 
concerned,  was  what  miay  be  called  a  new  jealousy 
for  God  and  determination  that  in  all  work  for  Him 
He  alone  should  be  looked  to  and  honoured. 

A  letter  to  a  friend,  written  in  these  days,  will, 
illustrate  this  :— 


:[       .   <- 


5,  Westfield  Terrace,  Aberdeen, 
V  January  \^^\%f)2: 

In  the  prayer  meeting  I  ana  expounding  the  103rd  Psalm. 
The  psalm  is  a  delightful  studjr.   Have  you  ever  made  a  list 


\  *  -■  -  ■  ■ 

V-i 


ita 


GEORGE   H.  C.  MACGREGOR 


of  the  blessings  the  psalmist  praises  God  for?^  Just  think 
of  it':  Forgiveness,  soul-healing,  redemption,  coronation, 
satisfaction, '  perpetual  youth,  justice,  revelation,  mercy, 
tenderness,  pity,  and  so  on.  No  wonder  when  we  think  of 
_  it  we  need  "  all  that  is  within  us  "  to  praise. 

In  my  Bible  class  I  am  giving  "  The  Story  Of  the  Pauline 
Epistles ":  how  the^  arose ;  when,  to  whom,  and  why 
written;  and  what  they  say.  .Hy  large  class  are  greatly 
interested,  and,  I  hope,  profited  also.    --- 


^" 


U 


We  are  now  in  the  midst  of  the  special  mission  of 
Moody  and.  McNeill.  There,  has  been  great  interest  and; 
immense  gatherihgs,  but  the  spiritual  results  have  been 
very  small.  There  has  been  nothing  of  a  breaking  down. 
A  goodly  number  have  got  blessing,  anvong  them  several 
of  ihy  owrfYQlks;  but  there  has  been  no  general  movement. 
Perhaps  our  eyes  were  too  much  on  the  men.  Our  God  \i 
jealous,  and  says:  "J^y  glory  will  I  not  give  to  another.** 

_  The  little  book  which  has  been  already  quoted,  5'<?  ° 
Great  5a/z/dr/w«,  is  a  fine  specini  of  "his  preaching 
and  teaching  during  these  years.  It  was  Issued  in 
■theend  of  1892,  with  a  brief  preface  by  Dr.  Moule. 
It  has  passed  through  three  editions,  and  there  have  ," 
been  testinioiiies  not  a  few  to  blessing  received  in 
reading  its  ponclse  and  arresting  chapters :"  Man 
Fallen/i  "  Man  Accused,"  ">  Man  Awakened,"  "  Man 
Justified,"  "Man  Kept,"  «  Man  Sanctified."  In  the 
words  of  Dr.  Moule's  preface : — 

It  is  one  of  those  books,  never  too  common,  in  which, 
by  the  grace  of  God,  the  message  of  a  fifll  Gospel-  is  pre- 


!' 


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sented,  not  only  clearly,  but  sympathetically  j  hot  only 
tenderly,  but  searcbihgly  ;  and,  above  all,  so  as  to  bring  out 
proportions  and  connections  in  the  "  things  which  accom- 
pany salvation,"  as  they  are  seen  revealed  in  the  Holy 
^Vord. 

It  is,  indeed,  a  full  Gospel,  singularly  many-sided 
and  complete,  which  is  presented  in  the  compass 
jof  these  130  pages.  Few  books  furnish  such  a 
ntultum  inparvoy  the  iFoundation  truths  of  the  GoSpel 
Vfor  perishing  sinners,  as  well  as  the  truths  and 
principles  of  the"  higher  Christian  life  for  believers. 
It  is.  an  admirable  setting  forth  of  "  salvation  "  in  that 
wider  and  larger  sfeiise  to  which  reference  has  been 
already  made,  the  whole  Divine]  process  "  by  which 
He  who  is  mighty  to  save  brings  men  from  sin  to 
hc^iriess,  from  Satan  to  G«|d."  As  a  piece  of  exposi- 
tion, it  is  peculiarly  clear  and  convincing.  Some- 
times the  lucidity  and  love  of  analysis  may  be 
thought  to  carry  division  too  fa,r,  as  in  the  distinction 
drawn  between  forgiveness  and  pardon,  a  distirtction 
which,  though  made  to  yield  a  beautiful  thought,* 
is  iri  itself  an  arbitrary  and  artificial  distinction.  But 
the   chief    thing  about  the  book,  and  that  which 

» *  "  Pardon  is  something  different  and  distinguishable  from  for- 
giveness.   Forgivieriess  relates  to  personal  injuries,  and  restores 
personal  relations  ;  pardon  relates  to  legal  penalty,  and  remits 
it*  (p.  83).     Merice,  w^itle  "forgiveness  comes  to  us  simply 
.^from  the  love  of  God,"  "pardon  comes  to  us  through  the  death 
|,of  the  Lord  Jesus,"  ;-----"^^^-  ^  --■  :-;-f---;T;r'T^^^       :,,^.__.  ^y-.^^,.^ 


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l^^  GEORGE  p.  C.  MACGREGOR 

strikes  the  reac^r  more  and  more  as'he  comes  back 
to  it;  js  that  it  is  so  full  of  Christ,  arid  points  men  so 
earnestly  and  lovingly  to  Him.  Like  the  letters  of 
the  saintly  Bis|iop  Ken,  the  whole  writing  seems  to 
bear  the  superscription, 


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CHAPTER  VUi 
Keswick :  The  Recollections  of  a  Friend  * 


THE  littl^  town  of  Keswick^  in  Cumberland,  is 
a  place  happy  in  the  combination  of  a  most 
beautifuV  landscape  with  -  memories  of  genius  and 
virtue.  Planted  on  rising  ground  at  the  lower  end 
of  Derwentwater,  it  commands  the  grand  vista  of  the 
lake,  with  its  green  islands  and  equally  green  bor- 
dering heights,  to  where,,  beyond  Lodore,  "the  up- 
crowding  hills "  of  Borrowdale  rise,  lost  in  one 
another,  towards/the  pass  of  Honister.  The  spec- 
tator, turning  to  the,  right  from  that  fair  scene,  sees 
Skiddaw  moMntirig  near  him,  with  its  restful  mass  qf' 
giant  slopes,  and  Saddlebadc  beyOnd  Skiddaw,  still 
to  the  right  Perhapsthe  point  of  view  is  the  terrace 
of  the  churchyard  of  St  John's,  and  the  time  is 
towards  the  sunset  of  a  summer  day.  Assuredly 
t^t  landscape  will  be  remembered.  Travellers  of 
widest  experience  have  pronounced  it  to  b<^  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  of  all  inland  scenes. 
The  human  associations  of  Keswick  are  not  un- 

>  By  the  Rev.  (fandley  C.  G.  Moule,  D.D.,  Norrisian  Pro- 
fessor of  Divihity,  Cambridge.  ^Sy«  preface.  -^ 

•        *  ■   ..    '■^■■i        ■    ■  .187,  '    /■■■".■.  "C  ■'  ''  ' 


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worthy  of  its  natural  charms.  I  shall  speak  presently 
of  its  Christian  interests  of  our  day.  But  \tt  us 
remember  also  that  ninety-six  years  ago,  in  1804,  i^ 
became  tne  home  of  a  great  English  man  of  letters, 
a  true  poet,  a  fine  prose  writer,  a  reader  and  student 
of  immense  diligence,  a  good  and  high-minded  man, 
Robert  Southey.  At  Greta  Hall,  just  outside  the 
town,,  he  lived  the  last  forty  years  of  his  life.  There 
his  pen  produced  a  whole  library.  At  Keswick,  inUr 
alia,  he  wrote . 7-4/  Li/i  of  Wesley,  Tki  Life  oflfelson, 
The  Doctor,  TJu  Curse  of  Kehama,  And  that  other 
epic,  neglected  now,  b^t  a  grand  story  grandly  told, 
Roderick,  the  Last  'of  the  Gotlts.  There  he  edited 
Cowper,  and  wrote  his  Mepioir.  There  also  (as  Mr. 
Hodder's  Life^  of  the  Seventh  Earl  of  Shaftesbury  tells 
us)  he  sent  one  warm  and  energetic  letter  after 
another  to  the  young  patrician  advocate  of  the  vic- 
tinvs  of  the  fa^ory  system,  to  inform  and  animate 
him  in  the  first  -brave  enterprises  of  his  life. 

In  the  churchyard  . of  Crosthwaite,  the,  ancient 
mother  church  of  Keswick,  the  dust  of  Southey  now 
reposes.  His  grave  is  a  place  which  may  well 
quicken  the  conscience  and  purposes  of  those  who 
desire  to  "  occupy "  with  their  Master's  talents, 
'••while  it  is  day."  /        • 

But  our  main  concern  with  Kesjvfck  in  these  pages 
touches  neither  its  picturesque  nor  its  literary  aspect 
For  just  a  quarter  of  a  century  now  it  has  had  asso- 


>>  I 


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THE  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  A  FRIENli     lag 

ciatlons  of  another  sort,  which  have  made  Its  name 
known  far  and  wide  in  English-speaking  Christen- 
dom.    At  Keswick,  in  1^75,  under  a  tent,  in  a  field 
near  St.  John's  Parson^e,  was  held  a  first  "  Conven- 
tion for  the  Deepening  of  the  Spiritual  bife."    A 'few 
hundreds  attended  the  meetings.    The  ocdksion  be-; 
came  annual^  and  now  for  many  years,  when  July  is» 
closing,  "the  Keswick  Convention"  brings  together 
an^ssembly  of  several  thousands.     It  k^ol  course, 
difficult  to  count  such  a  gathering.     But  it  is  safe  to 
say  that  not  less  than  six  thousand    persons  are 
present  each  year  for  the  whole  or  part  of  the  pro- 
cecdings.     Counting  a  large  number  of  visitors'  who 
come  in  by  train  for  part  of  one  day  only  (as  dilwayjr 
from  the  working  population  of  Barrow-inrFurness), 
the  estimate  may  be  made  a  good  deal  higher.         . 
"The  central  place  of  meeting  is  a  tent,  pitched  in  a 
field  da  the  skirts  of  the  town.    Her6  three  thoiHind  ' 
persons  finds|x>6m.    The  addres^^s  are  given  from  a 
platform  set  a|jabst  the  long  side  of  thetelit,  and  . 
roofed  by  a  soundfng-board  so  well  aiir&nged  tliat 
any  speaker  who  articulates  clearly  an^  fewnly  carl  be 
heard  in  every  corner.    Th^nt  is  supplemented  Vy 
one  or  two  Other  meeting-plac^n  the  town.    IriHhe 
course  of  each  day  several  stated  gkfli^ripgs  are  held : ,:: 
a  prayer  meeting  at  seven,  always  la^y  attended  | 
a  "Bible  reading"  late^r;  then  a  nooridk)^^" general 
meeting."  with  two*  addresses,  another  in  W«,  after* 


v.-.:;:/* 


IB. 


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GEORGE   H.  C.   MACGREGOR 


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noon,  another  tn  the  evening.  As  the  hour  for  each 
gathering  approaches,  the  streets  present  a  striking 
scene.  Pavements  and  road  arc  thronged  with  men 
and  women,  carrying  Bible,  hymn-book,  and  perhaps 
note-book  too,  towards  tent  or  hall,  with  a  certain  air 
oi  purpose  and  business  about  them,  entirely  without 
excitement,  yet  with  a  general  air  of  life  and  bright- 
ness which  Is  observable.  We  will  follow  them  to  an 
OGcasion  which  may  be  a  specimen  of  many.  It  is 
Wednesday  evening,  the  third  evening  of  the  scries. 
The  tent  is  quite  full ;  many  people,  perhaps  two  or 
three  hundred,  arc  standing  just  outside  it,  all  found, 
within  hearing.  On  the  long  platform  sits  the  chair- 
man, a  grey-haired  layman,  Robert  Wilson,  of  Cocker- 
mouth.  Right  and  left  o^  him  are  a  lai^e  group  of 
men,  many  of  whom  have  been  or  will  be  speaking  in 
the  course  of  the  week ;  clergymen  '^nd  laymen, 
English,  Scottish,  American,  GoloEiial,  and  soinetimes 
one  or  two  from  France  or  (jrcrmany.  They  repre- 
sent not  only  various  countries,  but  several  "  denoml*- 
nations"  of  the  Christian  Church.  The  tent,  how- 
ever, l)ears  outside  the  motto:  "All  one  in  Christ 
Jesus  " ;  and  the  diversity  of  ecclesiastical  connexion 
within  it  is  deliberately  and  lawfully  put  apart  for 
this  occasion,  while  speakers  and  hearers  meet  upon 
absolutely  common  Christian  ground.  =* 


The  great  gathering  is  yery  quiet ;  the  choir  sing  a 
few  fiymns  during  the  waiting  time,  but  this  is  only  a 


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THE  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  A   FRIEND     131 

help  to  prcparatfon.  At  the  hour,  the  chairman  calls 
for  a  moment  or  two  of  )iilcnt  prayer.  Then  a  hymn 
U  sung  by  all,  and  prayer  follows,  and  Scripture  and 
another  hymn.  And  now  the  first  speaker  fs  called. 
For  nearly  half  an  hour  he  Is  on  his  feet  We  listen  ; 
it  k  •  careful  but  quite  sJmpi|:  exposition  of  sotne^ 


short  Scripture  word  on  the  Christian's  experience  of 
sin  and  shortcoming,  with  illustrations  In  outspoken 
detail';  a  faithful  yet  sympathetic  picture  of  the  ache 
and  weariness  of  many  an  earnest  heart,  or  perhaps 
such  as  to  startle  an  easy  conscience  into  a  sudden 
sense  of  Inconsistfncy  and   neglect.     It  closes  not 
with  mere  r^p&of,  however  :  the  speaker  Is  too  much 
humbled  by  his  own  inemorles,  and  too  thankful  for 
,his  Master's,  mercies  to  himself,  to  play  the  mere 
fault-finder.    Rather,  his  last  words  are  of  the  Lord's 
will  that  it  should  be  otherwise  with  us,  and  of  His 
provision  that  it  may  b&  otherwise.     The  address  Is 
heard  in  perfect  silence,  yet  with  a  certain  feeling  of 
contact,  sympathy,  and  response  in    the    meeting. 
lAnother  hymn  is  sung,  full  of  those  truths  of  peace  : 
and  strength  which  He  in  the  Presence  of  the  Saviour,  > 
and  in  the  covenanted  powc^  of  the  Spirit.    Then  the 
second  address  is  given.  No  previous  mutual  arranjge-., 
ment  is  ever  made  between  the  speakers;  it  is  the 
more  remarkable  how  often  the  second  utterance  at  a  _ 
meeting  Is  a  true  sequel  to  the  first   So  it  is  to-night 
Listen ;  the  address  is  little  other  than  a  summary  of 


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GEORGE   H.  C.   MACGREGOR 


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the  promises  of  God  to  His  conscience  -  stricken 
people.  The  speaker  is  gathering  up  into  one  bright 
and  orderly  mass  what  the  Divine  Word  says  about 
the  power  that  can  subdue  iniquities,  cleansing  and 
controlling  the  heart ;  what  it  reveals  about  a  pro- 
vision In  Christ  for  cfdr  sanctiBcation,  ias  large  and 
wonderful  as  that  for  our  acceptance ;  about  a  work 
of  the  Holy  Comforter,  arising  in  His  fulness  in  the 
soul,  the  effect  of  which  is. a  living  Presence  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  at  the  springs  of  thought  and  will, 
which  can  indeed  "make  all  things  new."  He  poiilts 
out,  from  unquestionable  Scriptures,  that  the  great 
condition  on  our  part  to  the  reception  of  these  gifts 
6f  love  and  power  is  the  faith  which,  "confident  in 
self-despair,"  turns  to  the  All-sufficient  to-  do  ^is 
merciful  work,  and  to  triumph  in  us  over  our  enemies' 
where  we,  in  our  own  name,  have  failed.  All  this  Ke 
carries  home  into  detail.  He  de^^explicitly  with 
our  failures  in  temper,  in  use  of  tfie -tongue,  in  truth- 
fulness and  thoroughness,  in  kindness  and  considera- 
tion, in  moral  courage,  in  thie  sense  of  the  entire 
ownership  of  our  Lord  applied  to  common  life.  Not 
in  the  abstract,  but  in  the  concrete,  he  puts  promise 
and  need  side  by  side.  Perhaps  in  a  passing  sentence 
he  lets  us  know  that  in  his  own  soul  the  great  need 
h^  been  met  by  the  yet  greater  power  of  God.  He 
takes  care  to  warn  us  against  the  dream  of  a  real 
perfectionism,  as  if  for  one  moment  we  could  stand 


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THE  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  4  FRIEND    133 


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before  the  Holy  One  as  our  Judge  except  in  the 
merits  and  righteousness  of  our  Head.  But  then 
within  the  more  energy  he  says  that  we  <>r^  called 
to  "  walk   and  to  please    God "  as  our   reconciled 

.  Father,  and  that  He  can  and  will  enable  us  to  do  it, 
if  we  will  yield  ourselves  to  Him,  and  rely  upon 
His  promises  for  inward  victory. 

The  address  is  over.  Another  hymn  foUowis,  calm 
and  solemn.  It  sings  of  "ipy  great  need  and  Thy 
great  fulnes?"  as  they  come  together,  and  of  the  holy 
result  A  short  "after-meeting "  closes  the  occasion. 
Any  who  wish  to  do  so  are  asked  to  stay,  and  a  great 
majority  do  irtay.  The  last  speaker  once  more  is 
calls^  forward.  He  concentrates  thought  and  will 
■  upon  decisive  action.  For  "  Keswick  "is  nothing  if 
not  practical  and  definite  in  its  purpose.  We  are 
appealed  to,  point  by  point,  to  own  our  personal  need 
to  the  Lord  without  reserve  j  to  take  up  His  promises 
as  meaning  all  they  say ;  to  look  HiiA  in  the  face, 

g  and  then  and  there  (for  why  should  we  delay?)  to 
"cortimit  the  keeping  of  our  souls"  to  Him;  to 
expect  His  response ;  to  go  quickly  forth  to  put  it 
into  use  in  common  life,  and  at  once.  Possibly  the 
speaker  asks  those  who  caTe  to  do  so,  silently  and 

-     unobserved,  to  rise  a  moment  to  their  fee^  as  If  in 
physical  affirmation  of  the  spiritual  act.  But  this  is  > 
never  pressed,  nor  is  it  by  any  means  always  even 

SI 


r-i. 


-^- 


134 


GEORGE  H.  C.  MACGREGOR 


The  great  gathering  at  length  quietly  disperses, 
under  the  shadows  of  "the  sumnier  night;  a  few,  per- 
haps, staying  a  little  longer  for  a  word  of  personal 
conversation  with  any  of  the  leaders  of  the  Con- 
vention. 

Such  is  a  fair  example  of  a  "  general*'  meeting.  It 
is  needless  to  go  into  detail  over  other  like  occasions, 
nor  to  describe  such  happy  accessories  as  occasional 
out-door  gatherings  on  an  island,  or  on  the  pine-clad 
"  Friar's  Crag,"  nor  the  many  pri^te  hours  of  con- 
ference and  prayer,  a  few  friends  together,  in  chamber 
or  in  field..  Only  let  us  not  forget  the  two  Sundays, 
shutting  in  the  six  days  of  the  Convention  proper, 
when  the  several  places  of  worship  in  the  little  town 
are  crowded.  St  John's  Church,  of  which  we  have 
spoken  already,  shall  be  our  choice.  The  kindly 
vicar  invites  always  some  of  the  clerical  leaders  to 
occupy  his  pulpit  on  those  two  days,  and  the  Lord's 
table  is  always  prepared,  thrice  each  Sunday,  for  the 
multitudes  who  are  sure  to  attend  it.  It  is  morning 
service.  The  beautifur  church  is  more  than  full. 
Singing  and  responding  are  like  the  sound  of  a  flood. 
The  lessons  are  read  to-day  by  Presbyterian  clergy- 
.men.  The  clergy  of  the  parish  are  assisted  in  ipinis- 
tration  by  well-known  visitors.  One  of  them  preaches, 
and  the  sermon  is  but. another  tent-address  as  to  its 
theme.  It  assumes  the  hearer**to  have  found  the 
sure  resting-place  of  acceptance  in  "  Christ /<?r  them," 


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THE  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  A  FRIEND    135 


and  it  directs 'them  to  the  "riches  of  the  glory  "of 
what  may  be  their  happy  experience  through  faith's 
welcome  to  "Christ  in  them."     Perhaps  they  are 
reminded  how  the  lartguage  of  the  Engl|^  Cbm- 
inunion  Office  will  so  soon  preach  in  its  own  majestic 
way  the  message  of  Keswick:  "Here  we  offer  to 
Thee  ourselves,  our  souls  and  bodies ;  humbly  pra)f- 
ing  Thee  that  all  we,  who  are  partakers  of  this  holy 
Communion,  may  be  fulfilled,  fi//ed  /«//,  with  Thy 
ace  and  heavenly  benediction " 
ow  did  the  Keswick  Convention  take  its  origin? 
It  was  somewhat  thus :    -Thomas  Harford-Battersby, 
Canon  of  Carlisle,  and  Minister  of  St.  John's  Church, 
Keswick,  was  invited  by  a  friend  to  attend  a  serieii  of 
meetings   on  the  spiritual  life,  at  Oxford,   in   the 
summer  of  1 874.    Saintly,  deeply  thoughtful,  diligent 
and  loving  in  his  pastoral  life,)  he  had  yet  long  felt 
a  certain  unrest  and  dissatisfactipn,  and  a  persuasion 
that  a  better  and  stronger  experience  was  possible. 
The  Oxford  meetings,  occasioned  by  the  presence  in 
England  of  an  American  layman,  Mr.  R.  Pcarsall 
Smith,  did  not  at  first  satisfy  Canon  Battersby.    Not 
quite  without  reason,  he  felt  and  dreaded  a  tendency 
in  some  of  the  utterances  towards  a  doctrine  of  "  sin- 
less perfection."    But  before  the  week  was  over,  with 
noble  candour,  he  had  recognised  that  such  a  tendency 
was  an  accident  of  the  teaphing,  not  its  essence.     Its 
essence  wais  jijst  ^he  ancient,  catholic,  apostolic  truth 


-/ 


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MACGREGOR 

If 


tS6    .-  'GEORGE 

t^iat  He,  who  Is  our  Righteousness  in  the  mystical 
'-Chion,  is,  in  it,  our. Sanptification  also.  Our  trMc*^ 
secret.  foNddiverance  from  the  power  of  sin  is  not 
indeed,  pod  forbid,  a  careless  and  linwaCcjhfui  walk, 
but,  in  a  wa^phful  walk,  a|rusted  Christ;  «•  Uest  upon 
Thy  word ;  Thy  promise  is  fof  me."  And  Thy  pro- 
mise  i%  "  I  will  write  My  law  in  their  hfearts  " ;  "*  I  -will 
put  My  feaf  in  their  hearts,  that  they  shall  not  sin 
against  Me  ";  «•  He  is  able  tol^eep  you  from  falling'.'; 
"^The  God  of  peace  sanfctify  you  wholly."  ,   » 

•_  Canon  Battersby  rcjturned  from  Opcford  as  one  into 
whose  life  a  new  light  h^d.  failed  from  heaven.    He    - 
^ad  experienced  not  the  least  disturbance  of  old 
%jjdamental  convictions,  ,  He  had  not  sd  much  fbundi'    ' 
•IneW  truth"  as  "new  trust'';  which  is  one  of  the- 
deepest  needs  of  our  troubled  time.    And  "  in  that 
light  of  life  he  walked,"    shedding   round    him   k 
peculiarly  beautiful  radiance  in  hofne.  and  parish  and 
ndghbourhood,  till,  in  July,  1883,  on  the  eve  of  the 
Convention  of  that  year, 'his  "travelling  days  were 
done."    Blessed  is  his  memory  and  his  example. 

As  iVe  Said  above,  he  founded  **  Keswick,"  The  ' 
first  Cortvcilition,  in  1875,  was  sinall.  But  the  institu-  . 
tion.  coincided  with  a  great  spiritual  wave,  or  rathe^ 
tide!  The  wonderful  evangelistic  labours  of  Mr. 
Moody  had  lately  j^tirred  England  an^  Scotland. 
These  impressions  were  succeeded  by,  or  rather  grew 
into,  a  widespread  lotiging  for  that*"  closer  walk  with 


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•     THE  RECOLLECTIONS  OF'A  FRIEND    lyi 

Qo4"towhich>  asanredly,  the  life  6f  known  accie^t- 
ance  is  meant  alwayS  to  be  the  avepue..   There  was^ 
everywhere,  in  circles  of  evan^elici^l  belief,  and  amidst . 
great  differences  upon  important  poitfts  of  doctrhial 
,  detail,  a  thirst  for  a  fuller  and  more  jestfu]  holines&^ 
The  Keswick  gatherings  met  that  thirst  ;•  can.  wp. 
doubt., that  the  w^l  of  God  was  in  the  matter  ?    hn^ 
they. rapidly  grew  to  a  volume  and  an  iiffluence  , 
iquite  unforeseen  by  their  founder.    He  drew  airbund 
him  a  circle  of  friends  whose  experience  wks  akin  to 
his  own;  notably  Charles  Fox,.tt.  W. , W<ebt^^Pepioe, 
E.  W.  Moore,,  Evan  .JHopkins,   Th^odOire   Mpnod,  . 
Hfenry   Bowker,  Robert   Wils6n.     Of  these   '^the 
greater  part^remain  urtto  this/  present,  but  som6%fe, 
fallen  asleep." ;  They  wetp  joined  afterwards^  fy  other , 
•men,,  varying  in  liiahy  characteristiis;but  alike  in  this, 
that,  holding  -firiiily^to  Che  eternal  fqunds^tion  of  ■ 
pairdon^and  peace  thrpu^h  bur  atoning  ."LoVd^^alone^ 
.'thpy  Had  themselves  felt,  in  a  jmpre  or  les^  marked 
experience.  His  power  in^tlieir  owq,  Sbuls,  to  conquer, 
to  purify,  to  cairn,  by  the  Spirjt  who  makes  Him  *i  a 
Iking,  brigfhtl-ealitK^'  to  faith^     •       J  ■  ; 

"Keswick"  is  no  sun  without  a  spot. "  It  has  *had    ' 

^  ■■*■■"■        '^     ' 

its  difficulties,  its  flucltuations.  'There  has  been  cau^e  . 
at  times  to  take  care  lest  one  glorious  side  of  truth 
should  be  so  exclusively  presented  as  to  be  deflected   • 
intb  an  error.    Those  who  have  attended  the  meetings 
have  not  always  carried  the  message  of  Keswick  into 


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./;.:-- 


138 


GEORGE  H.  (C.  MACGREGOR 


)^'  ■ 


practice.  But  I  dare  to  say, -once  more,  that  these 
trials  haveiilain  in  the  accidents,  not  in  the  essence. 
By  the  mefcy  of  God,  "Keswick  "has  been  l<ept,  in 
the  main,  scripturally  sober,  and  balanced  in  its  spirit- 
ual doctrine.  It  has  had  a  genuine  quickening  and 
kindling  power  in  thfe  Church.     It  ha^  raised  the 

^average  standard  of  conviction  in«vangelical  Christians 
as  to  their  Master's  claims  on  them,  and  His  promised 
gracious  power  in  them.  It  ha?  been  a  great  promoter 
of  Christian  labour  at  home,  and  yet  more  remarkably 
in  the  mission  field.  It  has  attracted  little  attention 
on  the  surface  of  the  'world.  Large  as  the  meetings 
are,  I  think  they  have  nfcver  once  been  noticedieven 

'in  the  briefest  paragraph,  by  the  London  daily  {Papers. 

.  But,  under  the  surface,  "  Keswick  "  has  been,  ar^d  is, 

a  quiet  power,  full  of  practical  blessing,  far  and  vi^id'e. 


/^' 


_  ■  .  -        -         .  .  .  .,  -        .v».  .        ■■  -    1 

It  was  at  the  close  of  a  morning  meeting  in  the 
tent  in  1889  that  I  was  met,  as  I  went  out,  by  a 
young  clergyman,  who  came  to  shake  my  hand  and 
make  himself  known.  He  was  George  Macgregor,  of 
Aberdeen.  His  immediate  purpose  with  me  was  to; 
speak  of  his  hope  to  organize  a  series  of  meetings  in 
Aberdeen  akin  in  aim  to  the  Convention,  and  to  invite 
me  tb  take  part.  We  had  a  short  conversation,  and 
my  new  friend  left  in.  me  the  impression  on  the  spot 
that  I  had,  indeed,  met  a  brother  in  Christ,  a  man 
whom  it  was  "good  to  look  in  the  face,  and  whose 


/^ 


:i 


THE  RECOLLFCtllW^S  OF  A  FRIEND    139 

words  spoke  at  once  of  Jbflght  and  fine  intelligence 
and  of  a^  true  heart,  in  which  the  Lord  manifestly 
dwelt  I  learnt  from-  him  long  afterwards  that  he' 
had  come  to  Keswick  as  a  critical  observer,  a  little 
disposed  to  wonder  what  English  teachers  had  to  say 
that' he  l>^d  nqt  learnt  already  further  north,   'But 

jomeof  the  addressies  had  led  his  soul,  already  pre- 
pared by  earlier  experiences  of  blessing,  "not  to  new 

Hruth  80  much  as  fo  new  trust,"  if  I  may  use  that 
phrase  again.'  In  particular,  a  sermon  in  St  John's 
Church,  pn  Psalm  xxxiMp,  ^o^  had  been  used  by  the 
Spirit  to  give'  him  a  remarkable,  nevelationrof  the 
greathess  of  "the  goodness  laid  up  for  them  that  fear 
Him,  and  wrought  for  them*  that  trust iff'Him  before 
the  sons  of  mc^n."    ThatJgxperlence  was  evidently 

liltogether' abnormal.  He  told  me  how,  after  service, 
he  h^  returned  to  his  lodging;  hardly  conscious  how 
he  went,  and,  once  alone,  had  passed,  through  a  vision 
the  glory  of  the  grace  of  God,  frpm  which  he  awoke 
i;o  common  consciousness  as  from  another  world,  with 
tears  of  wonder  and  joy,  and  a  sense  alprtost '  of  ex- 
haustion  "  by  the  -abundance  iof  the  revelations.'* 

From  that  summer  of  1 889  till  this  past  spring  our 
friendship,  to  my  exceeding  benefit,  1as<;ed,  only  to 
grow  war^ner  and  deeper  to  the  end.  Tfiife.projectfed 
visit  td  Aberdeen  was  paid  in  the  Marc^  of  1891,  alnd 
I  found  then  htfw  deep  he  had  penetrated  into'Divine 
secrets  while  already  the  soundness  of  judgment  and 


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140 


GEORGE   H.  C.  MACGRBGOR 


•I      ■  .1 

balance  of  thought  were  as  conspicuous  as  they  were 
'  at  the  labt    In  'the  summtr  of  1S92  he  was  again  at 
Keswick,  his  first  attendance  since  ^889.    At  once 
he  took  his  invited  place  as  a  ^peakei-,  the  place 
which  was  never  to  be  vacant  dg  that  platform  till  this 
present  year.    It  was  remarkable  thajt,  with  next  to 
^  no  personal  intercourse  with  older  Keswick  teachers 
In  the  interval,  he  began  his  Convention  ministiy'at 
once  as  ajman  who  had  completely  grasped  the  vital 
/elementsof  the  message,  and  who  knew  already  how/ 
toapplyihem  with  fer-readhing  wisdom  to  the  fact^ 
of  inwSM  and  outward  life.    To  my  observation,  liis 
eight  ycljrs'  work  ^  a  'deader »  was  a  singularly 
^ijquabte  progress  along^  a  settled   and  stable  line, 
^'from  strtngth  to  strength."    He  assuredly  "grew 
Itf  tjie  grkc^   and   the   knowledge "  of  the  Lord; 
downwaiidland  upward.    Bu^  the  growth  was  to  th J 
last  irt  a  tnjith  which  hte  had  been  enahifed  to  lay  hold 
■  of  Ift^omthipl  first,;  ■.--,■..   -■■.:  "'^"^  ' '  ■■  ^^/^  - :  ■:■ .-'   .'].'■ 
:1  was  rieWr  able  to  attend  at  Keswick  quite  regu- 
larly.    Sohile  of  the  occasions   when    Mac^regor's 
'  power,  was  jripst  markedly^felt  occurred  inLyW 
sence.    But  I  Wis  present  with  him  at  five^nven- 
tions,  including  li^s  last,  and  some  recollections  stand 
6ut  With  special  vividness  as  I  review  the  years.    He 
is  before  me  at  Sthis  liioinent  as  he  gave  a  plain, 
manly,,  heart-moting  account  of  his  experiences  in  * 
1889,  at  a  meeting  whereit^was  arranged  that  two  or  • 


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THE,  rk:ollections  (5f  a  friend   mi 

three  of  the  sf^kers  should  explain,  as  an  Illustration 
of  their  message,  why  they  were  there  at  all.  L  still 
hear  his  very  tone  and  see  his  look  of  pure  spiritual 
happiness  as,  on  another  occasion,  he  closed  a  rioble 

address  on  the  joy  of  the  Lord  with  the  verse-r- 

1    ■     ■■ '"  ■  ■  *    ■■■■'■'.■■  '■•"  ' 

i  I  cannot  tell  the  art 

■^  — ^^  '—By  which  such  blist- is  given  j     — ^  ^  ^ — ^^ 


1 


I  know  Thou  hast  ray  hearty 
.  And  I  have— heaven.  .. 


Anfl  I  recall  with  much  love,  and  delight  an  evening 
in  the  ^Tavilimi,"  in  1898,  when  if  w^s"  my  lot  to 
speak  first,  and  he  followed  me.     My  subject  was 

"^pesimus,  the  runaway  bor^lservant^  come  back  to 
his  master, .  Macgregor  had' prepared  an  address  t)n' 
a,  therpe  quite  different.    But  just  as  ^e  entered  tlie, 
iiiill,  of  course  quite  unaware  of  my  intended  line  of 

i  exposition,  he  felt  himself  drawn  to  the  lesson  given 

:  by  the  law  of  the  Hebrew's  seven  years'  slavery^  tobe 
followed^  if  the  slave  should  so  elect,  by  "service  foif 
ever."    That  address  abides  withimikheart  ^vid^ntly 

'  struck  and  stimulated  by  the  coincidence^  :|tfacgregor 
seemed  carried  beyond  hiniself,  and  pressed  home 
the  "splendour  of  the  thought "  of  a  bondage  to' the 
Lord  willing,  irfevocable,  everlasting,  with  the  miaqner 
of  one  who  was  .possessed  by  it  in  his  own  whole 
being  at  that  hour.         •  i 

-     But  I  miist  not  attempt  a  long  recital  of  memprie?^ 
The  details  given  are  enough  to  place  his  delightful 


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«4t  GEORGE  H.  C  MACOREGOR 

p*rsoHH€{  more  clearly  than  ever  before  ray  "inner 
eyes."  How  often,  entering  a  meeting,  perhaps  to 
give  an  addrcssj^nd  feeling  my  unfitness  for  the  work 
sensibly  enough,  have  I  looked  for  and  caught  his : 
affectionate  smile,  assuring  me  of  the  strong  help  of  a 
^rue  brother's  prayer.     How  often  have  I  glacJJ^  seen 

Lhim  rise,  with  his  tall  figure  and  most  expressive  face, 
and  expected  from  him,  what  by  the  grace  of  Go^ 
never  failed  me,  some  word  luminous  with  scriptural 
truth  well  studied  and  clearly  presented,  and  full  of 

,"  tl^e  heavenly  gift,"  just  to  the  purpose  of  some  need 
of  my  heart 

Our  private  intercourse  was,  after  all,  sqiall  in  . 
quantity.    Perh^s  four  or  five  times  altogether,  and 
for  very  short  stays,  he  was  my  guest  at  Cambridge.. 
The  last  such  visit,  when  Mrs.  Macgregor  was  with 
him,  was  in  February,  1900.    Two  or  three  times  I 
met  him  as  a  fellow^guest  in  that  delightful  house  of 
rest  and  kindness,  Copsley,  neaf  Outwood,  in  Surrey. 
Otherwise  I  saw  little  of  him,  and  our  letters  were 
never   frequent     Nevertheless  he  was,    for  nearly 
eleven  years,  till  he  passed  from  us,  no  small  part  of 
my  life.    We  never  met  but  I  felt  a  new^ense  of  deep 
spiritual  brotherhood,  along  with  a  rebuke  and  a 
stimulus  which  I  thankfully  remember.    His  social 
brightness  and  power  of  enjoyment  were  contagious. 
His  admirable  good  sense,  when  matters  of  common 
interest  were  discussed,  always  impressed  me.    And 


V  j^^- 


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irJOOSl^' 


the"  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  A  FRIEND     143 

'.'f--     ■    .  ■  '     ■•   ;   ■■  •;♦'■     ■•>  r« .  ■     ■'  ■  ■    .  '         ■  ■     '■ 
;  all  the  while  it  was  manifest  that  other  Interests  an<f 

—other  pleasures  were  wholly  subordinate  in  him  to 

the  Divine  "  ruling  passion,"  the  name  and  the  work 

of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  ■^., 

Farewell,  too  little  and  too  lately  known, 

Whom  1  began  to  think  and  call  my  own.  ' 


I  loved  (let  me  rather  say,  I  love)  film  well.  Often, 
when  tried  somewhat  in  faith  and  hope  amidst  the 
"unfavourable  events  "of  contemporary. Christendom, 
the  thought  of  his  faith  and  loVe,  his  clear  Insight  and 
high  courage,  has  carried  to  me  a  peculiar  message  of 
good  cheer. ^  Now  this  must  be  foregone.  Far  behind^ 
me  in  earthly  y<?ars,  he  is  older  now  in  immortality. 


,  ,  How  have  they  got  beyond ! 

Converted  last,  yet  first  with  glory  crown'd  I 
XttHe  once  I  thought  that  these 
Would  first  the  summit  gain. 
And  IWXft  me  far  below,  slow  Jlturneying  through  the 
.^^plaio..  ■.  .         ' 

But  let  us  turn  from  such  regrets,  to  give  thanks 
for  the  perpetual  possession  of  a  sacred  memory,  and 
of  a  blessed  hope,  and  to  look  more  directly  than 
ever  to  the  Archetype  of  all  His  sairtts,  "  of  whom  it 
is  witnessed  that  He  liveth." 


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CHAPTER   IX 
In  London 


# 


"To  strike  a  blow  for  God  against  the  growing   :    '» 
heathenism  of  London  is  an  ambition  any  maa 
may  rightly  haiYt.'*'-Fromalettertokis  Sister, 

MINISTER  so  eminently  useful  is  soon 
coveted  by  other  congregations,  and  before 
Mr.  Macgregor  had  been  long  in  Aberdeen  he  had 
many  invitati6ns  to  leave  it  Churches  in  various 
parts  of  Scotland  wished  to  know  wtether  he  would 
"consider"  a  call ;  and  there  were,  besides,  overtures 
from  London  and  overtures  from  Melbourne.  The 
mission  tour  in  Ca%da,  on  which  he  accompanied 
Mr.  Hubert  ]^rooke  andTMr.  Inwood  in  the  spring  of 
1893,  produced  two  pressing  invitations.  \One  was 
from  the  St.  James*  Square  Presbyterian  Church, 
Toronto,  a  large  and  important  congregation.  It  - 
was  accompanied  by  a  memorial,  which  could  not  but 
touch  him,  from  a  number  of  ministers  in  that  city, 
expressing  their  earnest  hope  that  it  might  please 
God  to  send  him  to  work  in  their  midst.  The  other 
was  from  the  Avenue'  Church,  Chicago,  so  closely 
associated  with  'Mr.^Moody*s  wbrk» 


!..,■■ 


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>  * 


148  GEORGE  a  C.  MACQREGOR 

From  Chicago,  where  their  tOUr  had  tkken  them 
for  a  few  days,  he  "wrot<i  to  his  wife  on  May  23rd, 
1893:—  ,       , 

'  I  was  grei^tly  startled  yesterday  morning.  Mr.  Moody 
called'  me  into  his  private  room,  and  said  to  me,  "How 
would  you  like  to  leave  Scotland,  and  come  over /here  to 
be  minister  of  the  Avenue  Church  ^d  manager  of  the 
Institute  ?  Go  and  pray  over  it,  and,  see  what  the  Lord's 
will  is."    The  proposal  was  simply  astounding  to  me,  and 

,  I  was  deeply  touched.  I  could  tJot,Hiowever,  think  of  such 
a  thing.      "- 

A  few  days  later  he  $ays : — 

*'Mr.  Moody  has  been  talking  to  me  again  about  coming 

herfe.    He  says  the  people  are  keen  to  get  ii^^t  I  said 

to. him,  I  did  not  feel  the  least  drawn  to  it*^*!  am  only 

„  afraid  I  may  be  choosing  a  life  of  case  rather  than  a  life  of 

^  pain.    Still  I  do  not  think  I  am  fitted  for  this  post  in  the 

centre  «of  a  ne?r  world.    The  Lord  will  guide. 

t 

Some  months  later,  when  he  doubtless  thought  the  k 
matter  was  at  an  end,  it  was  brought  up  again  by  an 
earnest  invMlttion  from  the  congregation,  supported 

.  by  a  letter  from  Mr.  Torrey,  the  superintendent  of 
the  .Institute,  who,  after  speaking  of  the  field  as  one 

-^  of  the  most  promising  in  the  world,  in  view  of  the 

'^  combine^  '  opportunity  presented  by  Institute  and 
-cteirch,  Vfpte :  "  I  do  not  know  of  any  person  on 
earth  to-day  that  I  would*  rather  see  pastor  of  that 

.  churoh  than  yourself."  .     __    . 


t'  "    ' 


\ 
^ 


\ 


■'f':. 


IN  LONDON 


«49 


All  these  invitations,  however,  Nurere  successively 
put  aside;  He  was  happy  anji  useftil  in  his  Aber- 
deen work,  and  did  not  yet  feel  free  to  leave  it 
Still»  it  was  evident  Ihat  ere  long  il-would^  well  for 
him  to  make  some  change.  Such  work  as  he  was 
doing  must  tell  v«pon  the  strongest  man ;  hVhad 
flung  himself  into  it,  straight  from  college,  and  ^| 
laboured  without  intermission  since.  In  another 
congregation  he  would  have  a  new  start,  and  possibly 
work  somewbat  less  engrossing  andi  constant  He 
had  now  produced  his  impression  on  the  life  of  the 
northern  city,  an  impression  of  a  definite  and 
memorable  kind ;  might  it  not  be  well  that  other 
scenes  and  other  communities  should  come  under  hiS' 
influence  and  witness  his  example  ^ 

In  the  autumn  of  1893  *»©  was  first  approached 
by  representatives  of  Trinity  Presbyterian  Church, 
Notting  Hill.  The  church  is  a  spacious  building  In  - 
Kensington  Park  Road,  erected  for  the  Church  of 
England,  but  purchased  some  thirty  years  ago  by 
Mr.  James  E.  Mathieson  and  other  friends,  who  were 
anxious  to  have  a  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  west  of 
London  to  which  the  late  Dr.  Adolph  Saphiir  might 
coftie  as  minister.  TJeir  hope  was  realized,  and  the 
place  will  ever  be  associated  with  the  sweet  savour,  of 
Dr.  Saphir's  work, and  his  sanctified  genius  as  an 
expounder  of  Scrfpture.  But  somewhat  delicate 
health  and  a  shy,  retiring^  disposition  prevented  that 


\ 


...i  -J . 


•\ 


. '     •  %  ■ 


^' 


i'", 

t 

* 

o 

■         ■■      ■ 

! 

• 

■>  ■■ 

*        f  *  '         •  ,  *_ 

"^       '  '  •        '  V 

i$o  pEOkGB  ^  G/MACGREdOR 

remarkable  man  from  building  up  a^  strong  organized 
congregation,  and  affei'  a  few   years  he  resigned, 
Under  his  successor  the  "^  church  had  a  che^upretl^ 
history— lirst  some  prosperous  days,  and  then  a  sad 
decline.    When  the  o^ce-bearers  addressed  them- 
selves to  Mr.   Macgregbr    the    church  was    nearly 
empty,  the  membership  less  than  two  hundred. 'At 
first  sight  it  seemed  out  of  the  quelilon  that  the 
minister  of  a  devoted  congregation  of.  oVfer  a  thou- 
sand, with  a  perfect  host  of  workers,  eveiy  ch^rfcE 
agency  flourishing!  and  so  much  encourageme»\J  and 
blessing,  should  think  of  leaving  it  for  a  church  like 
this.    But  Mr.  Macgregor  did  not  look  at  it  in  this 
Way.    The  very  difficulties  of  the  situation,  the  hard 
and  anxious  work  whifch  it  presented,  appealed  to  the 
chivalry  of  Jms  nature.    All  the  soldier  in  him,  that 
burned  to  go  to  Aden  when  Keith-Falconer  fell,  was 
ready  to  undertake  what  appeared  tilmost  a  forlorn 
hope.    To  England  he  felt  a  strong  attraction.     He 
feltheiwed  it.a  peculfar  debt  for  the  blessing  and 
illumir^ion  he^had,  himself  received  on  English  soil; 
He  was  wel}  known  at  many  conventions  in  England : 
he  had  numerous  friends,  especially  in  London ;  if  he 
was  to«  leave  Aberdeen,  there  was  no  place  that 
attracted  him  so  much  as  the  great  metropolis.    Si 
he  did  not  put  the  proposal  away"  from  lym,  j^et 
neither  did  he  hastily  accept  it.  .During  the  winter 
he  proceeded  calmly  and  steadily  with  his  work  as 


a^ 


Jii/- 


4tK 


.  ^  *    IN  LONpON  #5  ^      -^151 

usual.    But  he  agreed  to  preach  at  Netting  Hill  in 
February.    Step  by  step  the  way  seemed  to  o^en  up 

.."  (or  bis  ^c3epting  thrall.    What  weighed  much  with    ^ 
him    in  deciding  was    the    strlinge  atmosphere  of 
prayer  that  seemed  to  surround  the  whole  matter. 
"  There  are  many  earr^est  soufe  in  the  rqmnant  here," 
one*^6f  the  congregatiot^  had  written  to  him,  "who 

;  are  crying  to  God  that  this  extremity  may  be  His    "^ 
opportunity."    A  veteran  missionary  to  the  Jews, 
the  Rev.  William  Wingate,  associated  vvith  those 
joyful  early  days  ot   the  Pesth  mission  when  the 
whole  Saphir  family,  inc|,uding  young  Adolph,  were 
brought  to  Christ— associated,  too,  with  Dr.  Saphir's   , 
labbursjin    Notting    Hill—wrote    a   letter    full    of 
prayejAil  wishes  and  hopes.    Many  Christian  workiers  ^^ 
in  l!l!ondon,    unconnected    with    the     Presbyterian 
Ghufchi  were  also,  aslyng  that  so  valiant  a  worker 
might  be  added  to  their  number. 
Y  On  the  ist  of  May,  1*894,  at  the  meetiiiA>f  his 
Presbyliry  in  feerdeen,  Mr.  Macgregor  iScepted  ♦ 
^e   C2(ll.      The   East^ 'Church    congregation    hati 
tehaved  throughout  in^^beautiful  Christian  spirit     / 
Grieved  at  heart,  as  they  could  not  hut||^  at  parting 
with^the  (.Jiinister  who  under  ^  God  fflS  been  the 
means  of  such  blessing  to  them,  when  tl^ey  found 
that,  like  St  Paul,  he  was  led"  on  hy  a  clear  impulse 
of  duty,  tUen,  like  St  Paul's  friends, they  said  "The' 
will  of  the  X-ord  be'done."    The  speech  in  which  he 


m 


. 


t.'Jb 


-A-i^ 


■  r;'^  j;'  ■-  -  jft  t.""  -ay  .i»  ■"<!■■■■'  ■'«»  i--**.  '<»••  .i-i^i..;.. 


\       ■  V 


■^f 


'■■■'W,    V  Isf  GEORbmil.  C  MACGREGOR 

•fc^'  -''illl"-  .^V  ':|Pounced  "'wS  "d^Glldn .  wa%.chlract»lstic 


"bCoa'Mi  itVstrfl^g  to  '•- -ij^/ 


bok  |m  all  wo^lc 


I  l^s^'^^w,^  aft?!^  th^aCS^fs,  ol^mc 


of  sq 


/{ 


<  -it" 


l^iohe  life.  :^r  oan^heiitly^  4^ 
ii*'eighed  i^ith fueis ho'i^  may  best 

powefii'God  has  giyen|pe  for  the 
kingdom  of  Chnst;i»tve  tried 
pij^^i$ti:](5  to  took  at  myself;  ^tlifpSch  as  a 
^er  ofllh^^ee  ^st  Church  or  the  Fr^  cfirqh,  bat 
'  ■■^':  ■;: ,  rat^^is  a;-^rvafi|v:|j(|yG<3d,  .bound. .tb^^^^  work '' 

^■i* .  '^  .;■  %heiyer  He^";|^sli0&';to|e|io  dp.  it— whether'  In  ■  Scj^d,  or  ■ 
§it:^sglarid,  or.i^mer8^^;«ii|;,.wl}at  is  .equal^: :p^(*Ie,  jn, 
J  J   h^^eir  lands^iHnoi^^  l|iOse  who  have  nol^  ^i  iMiard  the 
^     gpkpeibf  Jest^^hristj   ^e  place  where  a  ma|i  works  is, 
' '  ^A  J    a^^  allf  of/Jitt^Jeonis^qu^e,  provided: he  le^|s  jt  is  the 
*       r  i  ^^<^^  Vliere  heit^  b^t  s^e  his  Master's  interlii^  ';    ,  .  v 


Mv  r     JL  r»  ji^  move,  that  the  wa^was  btocked.  ^In  this  case  t 

V^  >ii      *'*^*^  "^^  felt  V  Some  may  tliyjk  I  ani  wrong,aiuy|^e  con- 

•   J^'     V  '  victijjn  has  taken  holdof  me  that  I  ami^t^nly  ^ 

^V  J  V^  ;  ^ .  ^    'l  ^"*  *^'  ^  *?  *"y  ^"*y  to  "»ov®«    I.  Rave  feeert 

V'  :^     '  .     '^  i  .  ,^  iniareasing  b|denof  pastoral  work  w; 

'      I     than- 1  could  Jm  and  feeling  to  some 

-^   .  ,    *^ving  come  OTOTfrbm  coUege  to  take 

t'Ws  cdngregatioh,  the  tim)  I  have  had 

-4 1 


■  / 


'I' 


_-«.  - , — ._- 


->sa*^,.„A^^^ 


:"^> '  y 


Ik': 


IN  LONDON 


./ 


>53 


II"'  ■  ■ 
•■J 


^ 


*■'''■    been  deplorably  small,  and  there  has  been  a  considerable 
danger  of  my  mind  being  impoverished  and  my  whole  work    : 
as  a  preacher. entirely  weakened.    Another  point  of  con- 
siderable strength  is  this,  that  perhaps  I  have  delivered  to 
:^iny  present  congregation  the  special  message  that  I  was  sent 

.■  •     io-deUver. 

',J^  to  the  question  whether  London  is  a  sphere  where^  1 

\_^  may  reasonably  hope  to  do  work  for  God,  I  cannot  ^hut 
my  eyes  to  the  difficulties  of  the  situation.  I  know  quite 
well  it  is  a  wrench  to  go  from  a  congregation  of  a  thousand 
to  a  congregation  of  two  hundred,  and  to  go  from  a  church 
that  is  filled  by  a  hearty  and  loving  congregation  to  a 
church  that  is  nearly  three-quarters  empty.  It  iV  a  diffi- 
culty to  go  from  a  community  that  is  almost  entirely 
Presbyterian  to  a  community  where  Presbyterians  are  few 
and  far  between,  _  and  to  go  from  a  church  which  is 
really  a  national  church  into  a  church  which  is  not 
.  national*  But  it  is  the  very  difficplties  of  the  situation 
that  attract  me;  London  has  for  years  weighed  heavily 
j/ ^^{V^y<liea%and  the  need  of  Londoii  has  pressed  on  my 

*         heart"  ahdconslftience  in  a  wiay  t  cannot  very  fully  explain. 

y       It  is  largeljf  because  of  that,  because  London  is  so  full  of 

wickedness  and  the  fi^Jd  So  unlimited,  that  I  have  felt  it 

to  be  my  dutyr-I^  can  use  no  other  word — to  ttsxxsQV  the 

ext  day  hl|^e^^o  his  sistor :- 

-  The  wheel"  has  Ulkfiti  ^n«er  tujn,  and,;jpjp  path  of  life 
tak^  vc0Jfi  London.  ^  I  <can  hardl^  believe  tfie  thing  is  . 
doiii»»-that  Aber<leen  fs  oast,  and  Ixfti^jpn' abouUto  begin.  ^ 
It  will  be  a  great  chalife,  but  wHn  Ht  putteth  fqrtk  His  \ 


^  * 


'Vl'. 


rf 


--*-• 


■'^%»(».  ,^ 


Hj^or 


^^«1> 


■     \-T.t" 


1-" 


*S^"'  —•.••-.<»~f>t'' 


t 


II 


154  GEORGE   If.  C  MACGREGOR 

yf  sheipm^th  before  them.     We  will  follow,  putting  oUr 
trust  in  JHim.  ^  f 

In  a  farewell  letter  to  the  flock  he  was  leaving  he 

I  go  to  thecity  which  ^  the  ceh^  of  the  whole  wok 
UM>reach  as  faithfuljas^/^an  Christ  and  Him  crucifld 
I  know  well  r  can  hSrdly  hope  to  be  as  happy  there  ai  X 

sor.«  ?"  ^     ^°"'  ^^  '°  *^"^*  *'*'  ^""^  ^"^'^^^d  tokens  of 
success  to  encourage  me.    I  know  I  cannot  look  for  as  easy 
a  life,  or  one  as  free  from  worry,  as  I  have  had  here.    But 
the  path  of  ease  is  not  always  the  path  6f  duty,  and  that 
he  path  of  duty  leads  me  to  Londoli  I  feel  very  strongly. 
I  confess  that  while  considering  the  question  of  the  caU 
my  heart  was  all  for  refusing  it,  and  at  times  I  felt  as  if^ 
wou^d  need  but  little  pressure  to  induce  me  to  stay^  But; 
as  the  days  went  6n.  the  burden  of  Lpndon's  need  lay  so    ' 
heavy  upon  me,  and  the  call  to  go  became  .so  clear,  thi  I 
felt  that^for  me  to  stay  would  be  disobedience  t?the 
command  of  Him  whom  I  wish  always   to  follow  as^my 

.  ■■'■  ^ '  ■ 
He  was  Inducted  at  Notting  Hill  by  the  Presbytery' 
<rf  Lond<m  North  on  May  24.  ,894.  a„d  preached  ibr 
the.first  time  as  minister  of  the  ehurch  on  Sun  jay 
May  27.    This  was  the  beginning  of  the  ministry 
which  lasted  for  the  .^mainder  bf  his  short  l«e  • 
Measured  even  by  an  outward  and  material  stand  W,;^ 
It  was  a  prosperous  ministry;  wonderfully  prosW 
ous.  in  view  of  some  of  the  difficulties,  ^ich  hadi 
be  contended  with.    Thgte  was  not  the  rash  of      " 


„.. , «-, 


'A 


1  :r 


IN  LONDON 


In  thiahls 


/ 


perity  that  there  had  been  in  Aberdeen, 
own  fo^fcast  was  verified,  and  the  circuipstances  of 
the  case,  indeed,  did  not  admit  of  the  repetition  of 
hrs"former  experience.  But  from  the  fifst  day  the 
congregation  steadily  grew  in, numbers,  in  zeal,  in- 
activity, in  liberality,  and  in  everything  else  that  marks 
congregational  life.    His  work,  however,  Jay  not  oilly 

^n  enlarging,  but  in  deepening ;  and  tntensity^even    ' 
more  than  ext^sion  characterized  Its  result^  Num- 
bers and  financial  returns. are  but  impe^ct  indica- 
tions of  spiritual  work.    The  true  results  are  seen  in 
living  souls  gathered  into  the  kingdomT,  and  in  the||[. 
stronger  and  more  fruitful  life  of  believers.    The'  ex- 
traordinary development  of  the  missionaryiinterest- 
in  Notting  Hill  during  these  ye^rs  was  butrone,    ,^ 
though  a  very  marked,  effect  of  Mr.  Macgregor's 
ministry*    He  was  himself  so  on  fire  ffr  the  conver- 
sion of  Uie  .world,  his  own  heart  so  coriseorated  to  / 
missionary  work  in  the  widest  sense,  that  the  no% 
contagion^  was  communicated  to  all  who  carne  iv  ^ 
him.    Selfem  has  one  seen  sudh  a  concert  of  beMe 
ing  and  intense  Intercession  for  missions  as  i;i  that 
congregation^  and  thaf  visible  results,  both  In  gifts 
and  in  young  men  ind  women  offering  jthemselves- 
(otM^IJkan^ty  service,  were  very  mafrkjEid.     A  list, 

■  corfSiPg  seven  names,  of  those  who>rc  ndw  in  the 
mission  field— tw6  in  India,  two  ii/China,  t\vo  in 
South  Africa,  and  onein  PalestineT^peaks  for  itsilf ; 


-^^ 


•^ 


•■'N,- 


I  ■ 


C  MACGREGOR 


but  a  ftiir  larger  number  who  were  connected  with 
other  congregations  owed  not  a  Utile  to  the  stimulus 
of  Jils  example,  and  ofc^llPPHSBngHward  from 
*^^®f*°  *'"**•    He  had  always  two  monthly  prayer 
ilings  for  missions,  one  at  his  wqek-m'ght  service, 
ther  in  connection  with  the  Women's  Missionary 
iation  of  the  Churqjji;  and  doubtless  it  was  to 
is  constant  prayer  that  the  remarkable  missionary 
#.   results  in  the  congregation  were  due.    Missionary 
work  w^  constantly  dwelt  on  in  the  pulpit,  and  the 
app^rrrtade  to  those  who  might  be  in  circumstar^A , 
to  respond  to  the  call  to    labour   in  God'4   cause 
Abroad  wis  Mculiarly  solemn  and  searching.    In  no 
"  year  of  his  binistry  was  response  lacking;     "His 
face  used  t<)  bcamf^  writes  Mrs.  Dunbar  Walker,  £^ 
lady   specially  assoclStecft;  with  hiij^/ in  this  work, 
"when  ^too!to»y.^e  to  |p11  him  liiey  wished  to^^ 
give  themselvSTbr  the  foreign  field.    The  people's 
Interest  in  t*»e  jjj^ct  '^sls  kept  up  hvAt  simple, 
Ithformal  way  iffij^ich,..at  pdp,pra^cr  meetinM^  hq^ 
g^   would  invite  the  parents  or otJM)iLtel^-ves  ofthc^ 


*^who  had  gone  abroad  taJ|ll  liarythingr  fresh  or 

^.Jtriking    which,  our    •■iv.#orkers'    had    lately 

^  wri;t£ai  home*    We  had  iffissionary  maps  about  the 

|F  lecture  hall,  arid,  ^  you  know,  the  photographs  of 

"^      our  miss!onaries,  so  that  we  might  all  know  our 

devoted  representatives  'by  fece,'  and  in  a  special 

fraine  those  who  had  gone  out  from  our  own  congre* 


•  ^.#: 


.  "i 


"\*i. 


-rnwTnninblWiii* 


'  i:„-..^..Xri'.!l!-~j.  Jjli.  .iJimw. 


IN  LONDON 


HI 


"^'j' 


V 


gation.  It  all  seemed  to  come  so  naturally,  and 
without  any  apparent  special  effort ;  yet  the  people's 
hearts  were  so  opened  that  sometimes  it  seemed  as  if 
they  could  not  keep  their  money  back  f  You  kno\r 
how  freely  many  of  them  have  given.  I  have  never 
worked  with  any  one  s(^uli  of  zeal  about  souls." 

One  instance  of  the  W)erality  just  referred  to  may 
be  given.  A  maid-servant  one  day  told  him  she  was 
saving  a  e^all  sum  to  give  to  missions.  A  few  months 
afterwards,  at  the  close  of  a  service,  she  slipped  an 
envelope  Jrito  his  hand  as,  she  passed  out,  saying, 
"  H^  ia\hat  money."  Being  engaged  at  the  time, 
he  nlerely  thanked  her,  and  did  not  open  the  packet 
(until  he  got  home.  When  he  did  so,  he  found  that 
it'Upitained  £20.  Oi  such  noble  generosity  there 
were  instances  not  a  few. 

Of  some  other  departments  of  the  work  of  these  busy 
ancilbkssed  years  Mr.  James  E.  Mathieson  writes  :— 

.!■  .■  ■%'  ■•',■■■■  ' :  ■  .  •        ^ 

■■■■/,-.      .,."■'■'■•  •        ■    ■ 

The  prayer  meeting  on  Sunday  mornings  *o^a^_ 
hour  before  the  public  service  was  a  time  muSPIsf  be 
remembered.  The  minister  never  missed  this  opportunity 
ofUfeeting  with  the  group  of  people  who  found  it  possible 
to  atl^nd.  One  recalls  his  springy  step  as  he  came  in,  his 
joyful  face  as  he  gave  out  the  hymn,  or,  between  some  of 
the  prjiyers,  started  a  chorus,  such  as  "  Let,  the  Blessed 
Sunshine  in,"  or  "I  Believe  God  Answers  Prayer,"  or  called 
upon  his  people  to  repeat  texts  which  reflected  their  indi- 
tidual  experiences.    How  these  moments  flew  past;  how 


.tII" 


V 


.•  M 


^ 


V 


%^^ 


■4 


M: 


f<  t 


158 


CEORCr  H.  C.  MACGREGOR 


,"v  «' 


the  brief,  hearty  little  meeting  tuned  our  hearts  for  th^ 
larger  gathering  in  the  house  of  God  I  and  then,  before 
entering  the  pulpit,  he  found  a  few  momenta^for  prayer 
with  the  members  of  the  choir,  *. 

The  writer  during  a  long  life  has  had  many  homes  and 
has  been  favoured  with  much  faithful  ministry,  but  he  had 
never  looked  forward  to  refreshing  and  instruction  in  the 
truth  so  much  as  in  the  five  years  during  wJ^ch  he  enjoyed 
the  ministry  of  this  young  and  faithful  servant  of  Christ. 
George  Macgregor  never  hesitated  to  give  its  rightful 
central  place  to  the  Cross  of  Christ,  as  displaying  the  pivot 
doctrine  upon  which  our  faith  and  our  hopes  hinge,  and 
around  which  all  other  vital  doctrines  find  their  appropriate 
places ;  Christ's  deity  and  incarnation,  His  resurrection  and  ' 
ascension,  and  the  hope  of  His  appearing,  were  prominent 
in  his  teaching. 

On  Sunday  evenings,  after  giving  out  the  text,  heusually 
put  out  the  gas  behind  him,  addressing  himself  to  his  sub. 
ject  without  the  aid  of  notes,  and  looking  straight  into  his 
people's  faces.    It  suggested  to  me  the  thought  of  a  work- 
man taking  off  his  coat  as  if  he  meant  business— business  for 
the  Master,  transactions  with  immortal  souls,  witK  whom  he 
might  nev^r  again  have  an  opportunity  for  appeal  or  warning. 
He  took  the  oversight,  too,  of  open-air  preaching  in  the 
street  outsijde  his  church,  and  sometimes  gave  an  address ; 
nor  did  hejmanifest  any  exhaustion  (whatever  he  may  haVe 
felt),  after  ijis  long  day's  services,  in  the  evening  hour,  when 
he  would  Sling  a  solo  or  offer  the  Word^of  lif^  to  those  out- 
side the  fold 


But  while  labouring  thus  strenuously  |^  his  owif 
congregation,  he  recognised  that  for  a  minister  in 


^. 


X— 


f'^fp^, 


IN  LONDON 


tS9 


London  there  are   other  avenues  of   usefulness  of 
which  he  may  avail  himself.    These  outside  activities 
must  indeed  be  carefully  watched,  lest  they  come  to 
occupy  too  much  time,  but  if  wisely  used  they  may 
be  serviceable  rather  than  .otherwise  for  one's  proper 
work.    Mr.  Macgregor  once  shrewdly  remarked  of  a 
friend  that  he  would  never  fill  his  church  by  merely- 
remaining  in  it  and  preaching.      A  man  ought  to 
welcome  all    lawful    opportunities  of   commending 
himself  to  a  wider  audience.     Such  opportunities 
George  Macgregor  never  had  to  seek  for ;  his  diffi- 
culty was  what  to  choose  oi:  accept  out  of  the  multi- 
tude of  invitations  that  caipc  to  him.    When  he  came 
to  Londtth,  he  was  already  well  known  as  a  prominent 
and  acceptable  speaker  at  Keswick.     This  ensured 
for  him  a  cordial  reception  in  all  evangencal  circles, 
and  year  by  year,  as  he  became  better  known,  he  wasi 
more  warmly  esteemed  and  loved.    At  Eicc|er  Hall 
and  at  Mildmay  he  was  always  sure  of  a  welcome. 
He  was  almost  an  ideal  speaker  on  such  occasions.' 
His  clear,  resonant  voice  at  once  enabled  every  one 
to  hear  with  perfect  eas^  and  there  is  no  reason  to 
doubt  the  somewhat  J^n^^  remark  of  an  eminent 
preacher  that  many^  pecans,  wfcen  they  say  they 
like  one  preacher  better  than  another,  merdy  mean 
that  they  hear  him  more  distinctly  and  comfortably. 
But  he  not  only  spoke  audibly  an4  pleasantly,  you 
mightalways  be  sure  that  he  was  thoroughly  pre- 


*    *  ■ 

/  ,.      -^^  ■  ■  ■  -1 

■I                                       '  '   '    w 

■-  ■  ■  '  ■'  . 

,a 


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{■'(■ 


,  .:,  .    V' 


460 


GEORGE  H.  C.  MACGREGQR  * 


pared.  He  respected  his  audience ;  he  took  care  to 
.have  something  to  say.  I  have  already  quoted  the 
testimony  of  one  with  \yide  experience  of  meetings 
of  every  kind,  and  its  tribute  to  the  ynfailingly  high 
spiritual  tone  of  Mr.  Macgregor's  addresses  on  such 
occasions.  How  often  friends  remarked  that  his 
address  was  the  one,  or  at  least  among  those,  which 

~  gave  the  spiritual  keynote  to  a  whole  meeting  I  One 
has  known  occasions,  though  rarely,  for  he  ^yas 
eminently  a  popular  speaker,  when  he  might  be  less 
successful  than  others  on  the  platform  in  arresting 
attention  or  securing  af^Iause,  but  never  one  when 
his  words  came  short,  in  gravity  or  weight  or  spiritual 

'  enthusiasm,  of  what  the  occasion  demanded.  Sjurely 
the  e^cplanation  lay  in  this,  that  he  never,  took  part 
in  such  gatherings  without  very  special  prayer. 

One  instancer  may  be  given  of  the  manner  in 
which  he  took  part  in  engagements  of  tWs  kind* 
The  first  general  conference  of  Young  Y^^omen's 
Christian  JJfesociations  was  held  in  London  on 'four 
days  of  June,  1 898.    The  pi-omolers  of  the  gathering 

,  were  deeply  anxious  that  it  should  not  be  a  tinie. 

^merely  of    reports    and  statistics  and  conferences 

^abou^  the  machinery*  of  their  work,  but  a  season  of 
spiritual  quickening  for  the  delegates  from  so  many 
different  countries.  Devotbnal  meetings  were  ar- 
ranged lor,  and  .a -^ible  reading  to -commence  each 
day's  workr  -Buti  with  so  !nuch  to  get  through  in 


^M\:'MS^'-: 


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in 


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■M  ■ 


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*^.^  ^ 


IN  LONt)ON 


i6i 


each  day,  th^  Bible  heading  had  to  ,be  given  at  ten 
o'clock  in  the  mornirig,  and  with  many  of  the  dele-" 
gates  living  in  suburbs,  often  an  hour's,  journey  from 
the  place  of  meeting,  it ,  seemed .  doubtful  whether, 
many  woul^  find  it  possible  to  attend.  Mr.  Mac- 
gregor  gave  four  remarkable  Bible  readings  on  thq 
Holy  Spirit,  an  exposition  of  some  of  the  passages 
from  Scripture  so  beautifully  arranged  in  his  little 
book  TAfi  Things  of  the  Spirit,  dealing  with  the 
'  Spirit's  Personality,  His  ttames  and  titles,  the  manner^ 

,  .of  His  dispensation,  and  the  nature  of  His  work. 
*'Each.  day,"  sayTs  one  whp  was  present—the  Hon. 
Emily  Kinnaird — ^''the  audience  was  larger,  more 
punctual,  more  attentive,  until  the  hall  was  full ;  and 
the-addresses  had  a  powerful  .influence  on  the  spiritual 
tone  of  the  conference,  which  all  remarked  was  a- 
characteristic  of  *he  gathering  and-,  an  answer.. to 

'  ^  prayer."  -  " 


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THB  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 


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-!;  • 


CHAPTER    X 


The  Passioix  for  Souls" 


^ 


V 


"  He  that  winnetb  souls,  is  wise."-'/'fw.  xi.  30. 

HE  scene  so  graphically  depicted  in  the  last 
adapter  by  Mr.  Mathieson  is  one  that  lingers 
in  many  memories  :  tiie  golden  summer  eyeningf  the 
little  crowd  gathered  .outside  the  cbiUfch  in  the  "  long, 
unlovely  street,""  and  the  nninister  in  the  midst  of  his 
band  of  workers,  rejgieing  to  tell  once  more,  at  the 
close  of  a  long  day's  labour,  the  message  of  Divine 
love  to  the  lost  He  was  a  true  soul  winner,  a  man 
animated  with  a  geinoinfe  passion  lo  gain  his  fellows 
for  Christ.  To  those  who  came  to  hear  .he  gave, 
always  and  gladly,  of  his  very  bestj  and  those  who" 
would  not  come  he  was  ready  to  go  forth  and  seek. 
The  great  Gospel  command  Compel Jhem  to  come  in  is 
sometimes  overlooked  in  our  time.  But.pbedience  to 
it  lay  at  the  very  roots  of  George  Macgregor's  minis- 
try froni  first  to  last.^  We  saw  the  passion  t|urning  in 
him,  when  he  was  little  more  than  a  boy,  iri  that 
memorable  year  and  a  half  at  Ferintosh.    All  through. 


-t  -u- 


-K--:. 


•••  '    J* 


'.   X- 


■•»»uMMi«IV'Baw»«jra 


SS«tifol«95^««ws«» 


■ip'4m'^'^i' 


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1 

1 

) 


4 


i66         yOEORGE  H.,C  MACGREGOR 

his  DIvirtlty  studies  the  thought   was   uppermost, 
**  This  training  is  in  order  to  enable  me  better  to  win 
men?'    And  during  those  twelve  brief  years,  which 
formed  all  the  time  given  him  for  earthly  ministry,  it 
is  safe  to  say  that  there  was  not  one  d^gfhen  the 
great  constraining  motive  did  not  presei^t  fflelf  to  his 
soul  in  kh  its  solemnity,  that  he  was  sent  a^n 
ambassador  to  persuade  ihen  to  be  reconciled  1|^  &S6. 
Moreover,  it  grew  strong*  and  stroniKr  as  time 
went  on.    Perhaps  this  i?  not  always  po.    There  are 
no  doubt  difrerent  kinds  of  ministry,  and  to  some  it^ 
is  given  to  instruct  and* edify  believers,  while  others 
are  called  more  specially  to  dd  the  work  of  an  evan- 
gelist.   A  nd  sometimes  the  experience  of  guiding  the 
saints  on  the  Delectable  Mountains  may  partly  dis- 
incline   one   for  the  possibly  harder  and  less  en- 
couraging work  of  appealing  to  the  unconverted. 
Holiness  conventions,  it  is  said,  ate  not  always  helpful 
to  evangelistic  effort.     If  there  be  any  truth  in  this,  it 
behoves  us  all  to  seek  to  femoye  the  reproach.    Of 

«S«ffeswick,  at  least,  it  cannot  be  so  said  ;  witness  the 
extraordinary  stimulus  'that  Keswick  has  given,  and 
will  yet  give,  to  a^t  ittilsionary  effort.  And  few  men 
could  be  found  ijaore/*  profoundly    possessed    than 

"  George  Macgregor,  prominent  and  greatly  honoured 
as  he  was  in  the  effort  after  holineSs,  with  the  passion 

0 

for  saving  souls. 
TRis  great  end  he  pursued  by  every  means  open  to 


-♦ 


» _ 


^y 


mi 


■;..l3 


/; 


6  M 


•    -^ 


,-r~  yr 


d 


THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 


167 


him— by  preaching,  by  special  missions,  by  letters,  by 
personal/ dealing.  In  both  these  la&t  ways  God  used 
him,  for  he  was  a  man  whom  many  found  it  easy  to 
confide'  in.  Many  wrote  to  him  of  their  spiritual 
difficulties,  and  his  conversations  with  individuals 
were  innumerable.     He  had  not,  however,  quite\  that 


\ 


gift  which  seems  to  have  belonged  to  McCheync,\and 
^vas  {Assessed  by  Dr.  Andrew  Bonar  in  so  eminefit  a 
degree,  of  entering  easily  and  naturally  into  relig{<;>us 
conversation  with  every  one.  His  greatest  powV» 
after  all,  was  in  the  pulpit.  His  splendid  natural 
gifts  as  a  speaker,  his  force,  vitality,  persuasiveness^ 
found  full  scope  here  ;  but  above  clll  was  his  supreme' 
and  overwhelming  interjest  in'^is  theme  and  convic<-  \ 
tion  of  its  endless  moment  for  every  individual  in.  his 
audience.  He  valued  and  encouraged  special  missions 
— few  men  of  his  years  liad*to  do  with  a  larger  num- 
ber of  these ;  but  he  did  not  trust  exclusively  to  them.- 
He  thought  we  ought  to  hear  more  of  men  and  women 
being  saved  under  the  ordinary  ministry  of  the  Gos- 
pel, and  hi§  own  "work  was  directed  accordingly. 
-So  the  open-air  meetings  were  not  an  excursion 
aside  from  his  ordinarji'  ways  of  working.  He  was 
merely  carrying  to  th^  audience  outside  the  church 
building  the  same  message  and  the  same  earnest 
persuasiveness  that  had  just  before  been  presented  to 
the  congregation  within.  His  fine  vocal  powers  were 
an  immense  assistance  here. 


\  \ 


\ 


^\ 


■  \ 


m 


::m 


CEORCE  H.  C.  iWACGREGOil 


w* 


«■ 


■•♦:>. 


.     ■.  Vi'i  ,, 


<-M 


tr 


To  how  many  (says  one)  the  remembrance  of  his  vQic«;/ 
Id  quiet,  yet  always  so  clear  and  distinct,  conges  back  M^ft 
.used  to  ring  through  the  open  air,  on  the  Sufiday  evenings 
f  hen  h«  stood  outside  his  church  to  t^  agi^in  "the^ld, 
old  story"  to  the  passers  by,  or  to  slrig  a  well-knowr^  hymn 
jtii  i  solo.  One  hymn  especially,  No.  581  in  Sanki^y's  coU 
i^cdbn,  some  of  us  will  never  hear  or  sing  without  thinking 
of  him  as  he  sang  it  one  night*—     , 

•  (jh,  'what  will  you  do  with  Ji;su8^  . 

„        Y         The  call  conies  low  and  swe«t:     ■ 

and  then  went  from  one  to  another  with  that  s^ial  win* 
someness  of  nianr^er,  mingled  wi!h  loving  earnestness, 
which  so  marked  everythirrg  he  didi  and  attracted  to  Him 
for  VVhoin  he  sought  to  win  men. 

;^  r  Never  (says  the  same  friend)  shall  I  forget  One  of  the  last 
sei^mdns  Mr.  Macgregor  preached,  on  the  hcialing  of  blind 

. JDartimoeus,  nor  the  indescribable  tenderness  and  power  of 
pejTsuasion  with  which^  as  he  bent  oVot  -the  pulj^it,  he  cried, 

'with  arms  outstretched :  '''  O^Bartimafeus,  my  brother,  where 
are  you  ?  If  I  only  knew  where^you  are  sitting,  I  would 
c^me  down  frbm  the  pulpit,  and  take  you  by  the  hand  and 
bring  you  to  Jesus !  The  Master  is  calling  you  : 'won't  you 
come  to  Him,  now,  just  as  you  are  ?  He  does  not  want  tq 
take  you  for  what  you  ought  to  be.  He  wants  you  exactly  ' 
as  you  are,  to  heal  you  of  your  sickness,  to  make  you  what 
you  can  never  make  yourselfl  ** 

To  appeals  like  this— so  solemn,  so  tender,  so  urgeri^^ 

1,  .  "•  .       , . " — 

—God  granted  many  a  response,  and  some  of  tl 
strange  enough.     It  Jiappene4  one  Sunday  evening, 
not  long  before  his  iirst  visit  to- Northfield,  in  the. 


fi     •■  ■..•,. 


%' 


Ai 


JU:-... 


Y 


j2pS|sSii 


■r 


THE 


^^' 


Ion  for  sotfts 


169 


summer  of  1897,  that  at  the  last  moment,  under  one 
of  those  "Strange,  unaccountable  In^pulscs  of  which 
most  preachers  have  had  experience,  he  felt  himself 
Obliged  to  set  aside  the  subjedt  he  had  prepared  to 
preach  upon,  and  give  instead  a  simple,  direct  presen- 
tation of  God's  pardoning  ItSve'  in  Christ.  He  could 
not  explain  why  he,  did  thid;,  but' the  reason' soon 
appeared.  That  week  he  received  a  letter,  terrible  as' 
anything  in  Victor  Hugo,  written  as  with  blood  and 

'  tears,  thecry  of  an  outragc|d  and  broken  heart.  A 
poor  woman,  the  victim  of  man's  cruelty  and  sin,  in 
passing  by  had  entered' the  church  for  a  few  minutes' 
rest,  and  there  heard  a  messag^e  long  forgotten,  or 
judged, incredible  in  the  bitterness  of  despair.  "  I  and 
another  sviflferer,"  said, the  writer,  "have  shed  bitter, 
,heart- wrung  tears  over  this  letter.  3k  might  not  have 
been  i/jrritten,  but  hearing  your  semon  on  Sunday 
night,' and  weeping  over  it,  I  have  written  this."  It 
seemed  that  message  had  been  given  to  the  preacher, 
as  if  without  his  dWnwill,  in  order  to  guide  this  poor 
lost  one  to  the  feet  of  the  Saviour.  » 

Such  were  opportur^ities  that  cdffite  to  him  in  his 
oirdinary  ministry.  But  even  these  wer^  not  sufficient 
for  his  sacred  ambition.    He  was  fi^  brimming  4)vei^ 

•    with^nergy  and  ardour  to  win  men  from  sirtto  God. 

It  was  the  thought  of  the  awful  needs  of  London,  as 

;  we  saw,  that  forced  him  in  the  end  to  a,ccept  the  call 

to  Notting  Hill ;  and  the  loitfjjft^  lived  in  London, 


V 


-if-^i'-ttr^iu  .>  gi ;>~. 


«\         -    "ywjUjHljt*^ -»,'"'*  w'^y JKLKJto.'li'-"^'-"-" 


" '  1    .  <in^~:;pri_i — ' — -" 


^.^  <i   I  ■■  „<■■«  I  ■  ]  1 V- 


I.  V 

■V- 


1^ 


1  ;    i 


i^'** 


4 


*■■  IW' 


17X    /      GEORGE   H.  C.  MACGR 


/^*»^f^: 


e!5< 


OR 


the  mo^  heavily  did  the  burden  of  it  weigh  otiNhis 
spirit  Mr.  Mathi^on  and  others  intimately  ac- 
quainted with  his  ministry  have  remarked  how  little, 
comparatively,  in  spite  of  this  constant  thought  of  the 
special  sins  and  dangers  of  the  day,  he  preached  on 
what  are  called  "  present-d^  "  questions.  On  these 
l)e  could,  indeed,  and  did  speak  to  purpose  when  he 
thought  fit.  His  temperance  sermon,  published  as  a 
booklet,  with  the  title  Who  Kindled  the  Fin?  is  one 
of  the  boldest  and  most  outspoken  indictments  of  the 
entire  drink  system  uttere<i  in  our  time.  But  such 
utterancgj^HbtsJips  were  com parati vely  rare.  Deeply 
as  heJOflH|Kvils  of  this  age,  still  more  deeply  was 
h^coi^^^wthat  the  great  remedy  for  them  lay  in 
the  Gospel.  Like  the  saintly  Archbishop  Leighton, 
when  some  urged  him  to  preach  for  the  times,  he 
would  have  answered  that  there  were  enough  who  did 
that,  and  that  he  preferred  to  preach  for  eternity. 

The  work  of  the  Ybung  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion peculiarly  attracted  ISin,  and  before  he  had  been 
very  long  in  London  he  found  opportunity  to  help  in 
it.  The  two  great  centres  of  the  associati6n  in  the 
metropolis  afford  an  interesting  variety  of  work. 
Aldersgate,  in  the  heart  bf  the  city,  is  an  open  door 
for  the  vast  multitudes  of  clerks,  assistants  in  ware- 
houses, and  others  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood,  a 
certain  portion  of  whom  liv^on  the.business  premises. 
It  has  thus  what  may  be  called  a  residential  consti^^ 


-.  •  /  ■ 


f.v 


■% 


■.-pw^f  ■ 


x< 


'  ''ip|c 


THE   PASSION  FOR  S6U1 

eney.    fixeter  Hall,  again,  s 
ure  thoroughfare  of  London, 
and  music  halls  within  a  radi 
nightly  an  opportunity  for  de 
among  young  men,  hardly  to  be  eq 


Am 


17« 


at  pleas- 

theatret 

I,  ofTers 

isivc  work 

in  the  world. 


Every  youth  who  comes  ^oJLondon  wants  to  sec  the 
Strand,  and  have  some  idea  of  the  life  that  goes  on 
there,  The  picturesqueness  and  animation  interest 
him,  and  he  has  no  thought  of  the  dangers  that  lie 
in  wait  fpr  the  unwary.  All  sorts  and  conditions-*. 
London-bred  lads,  and  those  from  every  part  of  the 
kingdom,  colonials  and  foreigners,  the  innocent  and 
the  half-infected,  the  merely  curious,  the  reckless,  the 
tempters— all  are  mingled  in  the  living  stream  which 
night  after  night  pours  along  the  street.  A  great 
opportunity  for  *^  Christian  workers,  truly,  but  an 
opportunity  requiring  men  of  very  special  gifts  to 
make  right  use  of  it.  A  "  meeting  "  of  the  ordinary 
kind  is  the  last  thing  these  youths  would  think  of 
entering.  What  they  want  is  life,  afttiusement,  some- 
thing spicy  and  entertaining,  and  effort  on  the  old 
line?,  however  earnest,  would  leave  them  untouched. 
But  in  Mr.  J.  H.  Putterill,  the  secretary,  and  his 
fellow-workers  the  committee  has  men  equal  to  the 
occasion,  m6n  combining  the  needful  earnestness, 
tact,  good  humour,  and  readiness  of  wit,  men  ready 
to  statnd  any  amount  of  "  chaff '^  and  some  surly  re- 
buffs if  they  can  but  induce,  out  of  hundreds  invited, 


-s^ 


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MKRpCOry  ipSQUItlON  TIST  CHART 

(ANSI  ana  ISO  TEST  CHART  No.  2) 


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#',\ 


17a 


GEORGE   H.  C.  MACGREGOR 


-a  score  or  two  of  young  fellows  to  come  in  and  have 
a  talk. 

I  ■■  ■■■■■:■■■■  ■  •■.:  -■:;.■-    ■ 

<*  •    •   ,      -       ,■.■■"■''"*■ 

Mr.  Macgregor  (says  Mr.  PutteriU)  was  a  first-rate  man 
for  our  work.  To  get  the  ear  of  the  audiences  we  have 
here-^I  am  speaking  of  those  we  gather  in  of  an  evening 
off  the  Strand,  liot  of  the  crowds  in  the  big  hall«ipstairs  at 
the  May  meetings  !— we  want  a  man*  of  special  gifts.  We 
asked  him  because  hd^^as  a!  young  man,  because  he  was 
bright  and  strong,  and  because  he  was  not  conventional. 
We  got  him  to  come  one  spring,  and  give  "Talks  to  Young 
M8n"  every  Thursday  n^htYor  several  months.  It  was  a 
great  deal  for  him  to  giv^  busy  as  he  was  with  all  his 
church  work,^  and  so  many  other  things.  But  he  was  fn- 
tensely  interested  in  the  work,  and  I  think  'enjoyed  it  more 
and  more  as  .he  went  on.    We  don't  get  great  numbers  tcr 

•  these  meetings,  as  any  one  who  knows  the  conditions  will 
understand.  We  often  think  100  not  a  bad  meeting. 
The  average  would  be  150  to  200  that  season  with  Mr. 
Macgrfegor.  His  speaking  was  just  the  thing  —straight)  and 
brotherly,  and  downright.  Tlien  he  managed  so  well  to  get 
an  after-meeting.    To  try  the  ordinary  kind  of  after-meeting 

'  with  these  young  fellows  would  be  hopeless;  they  would 
take  the  alarm,  at  once  !  He  woul^l  merely  say  at  the  end  : 
"I  have  to  wait  for  a  bit  in  the  parlour  behind  after  this 
meeting,  and  if  any  one  here  would  like  a  little  more  talk, 
or  to  ask  any  question  about  the  things  we  have  been 
speaking  of,  tam  at  your  service."  As  many  as  ten,  fifteen, 
twenty  would  stay.  He  would  sit  on  the  corner  of  the  table 
and  talk  to  them.  If  he  saw  one  more  specially  interested, 
he  would  say  to  him  quietly :  "  You  just  wait,  dear  chap^  till 


'.*•''.' 


THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 


»73 


I'm  done  with  tlie  others,  and  then  we  shall  he  freer."    I 
know  that  many  thank  God  for  these  talks.  . 

The  next  year,  which  was  1897,  he  gare  us  a  weelcV 
mission  for  city  young  men  at  Aldersgate,  and  a  very  help- 
ful mission  it  was.  He  has  given  us  other  assistance  since, 
and  especially  last  spring.  His  whole  heart  was  in  the  work, 
and  it  was  intlresting  to  see  how,  when  you  asked  him  to 
do  anything,  he  would  first  answer,  "I  i&u  it's  not  possible," 
arid  the;i  after  a  minute  or  two,  "I  wonder  whether  we 
could  not  work  it  in  somehow."  1  am  sure  he  gave  what- 
ever was  possible  in  this  service,  and  he  did  it  with  all  his 
heart. 

It  would  be  easy  to  accumulate  testimony  as  to 
the  blessing  which  in  so  many  ways  attended  the 
missions  which  he  conducted,  in  every  part  of  the 
country.  But  one  or  two  must  suffice.  Here  is  a 
portion  of  a  letter  fron)  a  minister  in  the  north  of 

inland  rijj 

»:  :,      Pf>        : 

#  i  have  Isept  silence  for  some  weeks  so  that  I  might  be 
able  to  judge,  as  from  a  little  distance,  the  effect  of  the 
work  of  last  February.  The  day  of  account  alone  will 
reveal  the  amount  of  blessing.  I  have  taken  up  my  work 
with  new  zest.  Indeed,  it  is  not  so  much  that :  the  work 
is  entirely  transfigured.  You  have  begotten  in  me,  under 
.God,  i  passion  for  souls  that  will  not  be  denied.  I  have 
had  more  joy  in  my  work  during  the  past  fortnight  than 
ever  before,  and  thdt  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  I  have  had 
cause  for  worry  and  irritation  beyond  the  average.  This 
truth  of  "trusting  always "  is  wonderful,  and  my  people 
seem  a  different  people,  as  imleed  they  are.    * 


c 


J 


r-     -     —- •* 


oi^^t^l^m'saim* 


;■'•■..■•    ■ 

»74            GEORGE  H.  C.   MACGREGOR 

"'■■■.■■"'.-                                    '"                                                                                               -*'       ■ 

:                   ■  ■ 

Into  all  thi?  work    he  threw  himself  with  that         " 

■   . 

.                   singular  directness  arid  unity  of  purpose  which  char- 

acterised his  whole  ministry.    TJi^  entire  weight  of 

his  life  and  personality  was  dir^ted  on  ohe  thing-^ 

to  bring  men  to  God.     But  while  he  thus  lived  and 

laboured    for  one    thing,  he   himself,  as  has  been 

shown,  was  no  narrow  or  one-sided  man.     A  tribute 

-^  -                        irom  Dr.  Stalker  sets  forth  in  vivid  and  discrimir 

V-- —;-'---'     - 

nating  fashion  the  striking  impression  Mr.  Macgregdl- 

produced  in  a  mission  in  Glasgow  in  the  beginning      . 

of  1893.    The  missioner,  it  must  be  remembered,  was    ;' 

then  only  eight-and-twenty,  and  though  the  promise 

was>  very  bright,  the  fviH  attainment  was  not  yet  such 

y            '      ^ 

•*•          ..  JHtn^r. have  kn6wh  in  years  since  then/              / 

"■','     ■  ■        .       ' 

;r    Mr.  Macgregor  once  conducted  a  \^ek  of  meetings  for 

,-     ■  ■  ';^^ 

^- °         „     me  iri  St.  Matthew's,  Glasgow,  an4  though  it  happened., 

V      |«v             more  than  seven  years  ago,  my  r^Uectidn  of  his  visit  is 

.'             stUl  vivid  arid  pleasurable.    Hi/ style  suited  my  people 

;                           and  they  carite  out  in  unuslmy  large  numbers.    There     : 

was  no  rioise  or  excitement,  brit  fresh,  searching,  S^^ 

•    .    -.      ■ 

4'                           teaching.    The  meetings  w^e  brief>  lasting  not  much  more 

than  an  hour,  but  he  gave  two  addressesf  each  eyeni^gfOrie 

1                               to  Christians  an$l  the  other  to  tlie  undecided,  with  ptayer 

1   :                            and  jsinging  between.    This  afforded  great  variety,  and 

.     ■ 

1                               enabled  the  speaker  without  effort  to  keep  up  the  in- 

i.  '■■'■•■■■               terest.-'-'-                                                                             ■'■:^:;K'  . 

* 

1                                  He  stayed  with  us,  and  we  found  him  very  interesting     . 

1                                in  private.    I  still  remember  his  isketches  of  Highland 

*^ 

1         _                    -  communion  seasons,  and  the  illustrations  he  gave  of  a 

"■.':'■■•'        '• 

■■       -^•■■'      ■■■.';     ■■■"■"^:-  ■■■.     ^  :..'■:■"■■:■,  /    ■■.•-"..■■.'■■■.     V    ':    ■'-■:'.■:-:.   '■:■'■.■■"'.  ^. 

V  ■'    ■■■■•.■..  \  .-.'  v'-^   ■'■'.■'■■•              '.  ■    ■'  .■         ';■      '.  .'  .'.■':-''''..'-:.'' 

.*■■.".,.:              ■        -1     .    ■   -        ■■       .  *".':-■                  ';         '  _;.;''■"      •■■;■,■         ■■.■■■■■;-■■,   ,..^:^^'5       -         ■•■■.■.■■..■--■■-""             ■     -..'     A    ■"      ■     '              '■:■'■'•'■■'.'-■■'':    '^-    .'.-'■         '          ■-''■'/':. 

• 

•:'•**  • 


THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 


175 


practice  originated  by  himself  and  his  brothers  of  talking 
among  themselves  in  »  language  formed  by  spelling  the 
words  backwards.  But  what  charmed  me  most  was  his 
scholarliness.  Thie  caressing  way  in  which  he  handled  his 
Greek  Testament  betrayed  the  student,  and  he  had  a  truly 
theological  mind,  fitted  to  search  into  the  deep  things  of 
the  Scriptures  and  of  the  sO\i\,  He  had  just  begun  to 
identify  himself  with  tt^  Keswick  movement ;  and,  having 
myself  attended  the  Convention  and  been  dCeply  impressed 
with  its  possibilities,  I  urged  him  to  make  himself  the 
theologiaiv  of  the  movement.  I  remember  especially  re- 
commending to  him  the  works  on  the  Holy  Spirit  of  Owen 
and  Goodwin,  and  it  was  a  gratification  to  me  subsequently 
to  hear  from  a  friend  of  his  that  he  had  written  out  a  very 
elaborate  analysis  of  the  former,  which  is  a  book  so  great 
and  deep  as  almost  by  itself  to  be  able  to  make  a  theoc- 
logian. 

When  he  had  gone,  he  left  the  impression  of  a  remark- 
able personaility,  who,  with  his  Celtiot^riUiance  and  force 
of  character,  might  exert  a  profound  influence  irr  a  favour- 
able environment  suth  as  the  Keswick  movement  seemed 
to  furnish.  We  talked  of  him  for  many  a  day,  and  fol- 
lowed his  career  with  interest,  though  we  smiled  a  little  at 
what  seemed  to  U9  a  faint  "sough "  of  perfectiohism,  which 
was  not  absent  from  his  a,ddresses  or  his  conversation,  as 
it,  perhaps,  clung  at  that  time  to  the  Keswick  movement. 


.:^^i 


•■•if 


.  Dr.  Stalker,  it  will  be  seen,  refers  to  a  faint  sng- 
gestion  of  Perfectionist  teaching  which,  at  one  time 
at-  least,  some  o(  Mr.  Ma<igregpr*s  words  were  apt 
to  convey.     It  liiay  be  s|i%ly^Jaid  that  no  iiian  more 


'■b^--:-t 


*!., 


HI 


::%■■ 


\ 


1 76  V\       ^EORGE   H.  C.  MACGREGOR 


steadily  4ind  constantly  rejected  all  idea  of  the  pos- 
sibility \of  attaining  actual  sinlessness  in  this  life. 
He  had  vbut^^^rtu?  phrase  with  which  to  characterise 
this  froni\first  to  I^st     Writing  from  Pontresina  in 
1890,  he  Ws:  "The  year's  Convention  seertis  to 
have  had  sWeral  distinguishing  marks.    I  am  very^ 
much  struck\w\th  the  pains  taken  by  the  leaders  to^ 
guard  the  mpvetent  from  the  fatal  error  of  Per-  ^ 
fectionism."    MyA  Hofy  Z^/"/,  published^ ,  1 894,  the 
words  occut  (pi  76) :  *  "  New  deliverance  fi^am  con- 
scious sinning  will  bring  with  ii  new  consciouSi^ss 
of.  sin  that  lies  below  the  sinning.    Fellowship  witl 
the  Holy  Spirit  will  discover  to  us  Oiur  own  unholi- 
ness.    It  is  necessWy  to  /emphasize  thi^  in  order  to 
show  how  far  different  the  teidiing  of  Scripture  is 
from, the  fatal  error  of  sinless  perfection."    But  while 

he  was  thus  strongly  convinced  that  jLhe  ration  of 

■■'■"■■■  i\  * 

attained  sinlessness  by  any  man  in  this  life  is  i  delu- 
sion, and  lost, no  opportunity  (as  many  can  testify) 
to  warn  his  jliearers  again^  it,  it  cannot  be  denied 
that,  both  hi  his  books\  and  his  addresses,  language 
was  sometimes  used  which  might  be  misunderstood, 
and  from  which  inferences,  which  he  would  strongly 
have  repudiated,  might  be  drawn  by  some. 

The  most  widely  circulated  of  all  his  books  is  that 
to  which  reference  has  lust  been  made.    A  Holy 

The  reference  is  io  thft  6</.  edition. 


■X 


\, 


THE  PASSi6n  for  SOULS  ,77 

.;  Lift,  and  How  to  Live  It  was  published  in  August, 
1894,  and  had  passed  through  ten  editions  in  this 
country  at  the  time  of  the  author's  death.     A  penny 
edition  has  lately  been  issued  by  the  publishers/with 
a  contemplated  issue  of  several  hundred  thousand. 
Not  only  has  thq^oirculatiori  been  thus  large.    None 
of  his  writings  brought  to  Mr.  Macgregor  so  many 
expressions  oi  deepest  thankfulness  from  readers  in 
all  parts  of  the  world.     A  book  which  God  has  thus 
used  must  be  regarded  with  a  peculiar  and  tender 
interest,  .y^nd  a  beautiful  book  it  is,  in  its  profound 
searohing  of  the  human  heart,  in  its  yearning  after 
.holiness  and  deeper  fellowship  with  God,  and  in  its 
insistence  on  simple  faith  and  surrender  to  Christ  as 
the  great  condition  of  sanct(fication.      I^  abounds 
with  piercing,   memorable   sentences.      "Have  you 
•teen  shut  up  to  Christ  for  holiness?"    "Have  you 
ceased  to  say,  Can  God  ?     Have  you  learned  to  say, 
God  can,?"  « 


Some  readers  may  indeed  question  whether  the 
striking  use  made,  in,  the  third  chapter,  Qf  the 
cleansing  of  the  leper  is^  altogether  justified.  Whe« 
Our  Lord  touched  the  leper,  saying,  "  I  will :  be  thou 
clean,"  the  disease  was  instantly  and  completely 
banished.  There  can  be  no  more  viv^  emblem  of 
the  immediate  removal  of  guilt  in  the  very  ihimient- 
A^  come  to  Jesus.    Is  this,  however,  all   that  th€^ 


v 


?\: 


% 


»': 


;e 


178  GEORGE   H.  C.   MACGREGOR 

■,.■:'    t-  ■  :       ■    '    ■'  '■  ■  ' 

miracle  teaches?    The  author  is  undoubtedly  right 

when  he  says,  No  ;  this  is  a  story  of  cUansing.    Yet 
his  language  regarding  the  nature  and  extent  of 
the 'cleansing  process  is  scarcely  sufficiently  guarded. 
"How  is  my  temper  to  be  broken,  so  that   never, 
niever  again  shall  it  be  the  source  of  pain  that  |^' jias 
Ijeen  ?  *    "  You  maty  -receive  cleansing,  as  t^fiB  leper 
;  instantly,  and  by  a  touch."    "  The  work  may  be 
ne  ^h^rougKly,  and  done  at  once."    Such  sentenoes 
as  these  suggest,  if  they  do  not  teach,  that  cptofTCt 
sanctification,  not  only  in  principle  but  in  eVe'ir;^^  de 
tail,  may  be  accomplished  at  the  moment  when  we 
surrender  ourselves  to  Christ.     This  Ult.  Macgregor 
himself  did  not   for  a  moment   believe,  for  it  is 
contrary  both  to  Scripture  and  to  human  experience. 
That  the  cleansing  touch  of  Christ  is  able  to  break 
the  power  of  sin  as  a  principle  \n  the  h^art  h  the 
blessed  experience  of  thousands.    Bu|;  though   the 
power  of  *evil  is  thus  broken,  the  victory  has  yet  tb* 
be  carried  out  in  detail,  and  there  is  far  from  being 
yet  th^  condition  of  perfect  Tightness  of  nature,  which 
is  ou^  ideal,  and  which  would  be  the  analogue  of 
the   teper's  instant   and  perfect   restoration.      The 
cleai/sing,  in  short,  was  a  momentary  act ;  sanctifi- 
catipn  is  a  lifelong  process.     It  is  a  process,  more- 
over, in  which,  the  more  complete  the  saint's  victory 
over  express  acts  of  evil,  the  more  profound  is  his 
cqnsciousness  of  his  unsatisfactory  state  at  the  best, 


:/* 


■>--■' 


/ .." 


THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 


»79 


'./.•i. 


jn  view  of  the  absolute  holiness  of  God  and  of  out 
Perfect  Example.  This  deeper  fact  Is  strongly 
brought  out  in  the  quotation  made  aboVe  (p.  176). 
The  analogy  of  the  leper's  cleansing,  then,  which 
was  instant  and  complete,  is  misleading  if  pressed 
too  far,  and  may  give  rise  to  fallacious  expectations 
which  cannot,  in  point  of  fact,  be  realized.  A  similar 
remark  applies  to  the  use  made,  in  the  succeeding 
chapter  of  the  book,  of  St.  Peter's  walking  on  the 
water,  as  teaching  the  secret  of  continuance.  It  is 
a  beautiful  thought  that,  while  the  eye  is  fixed  oh 
Christ,  and  self  and  the  world  forgotten,  we  may 
indeed  walk  on  the  troubled  sea.  But  it  is  scarcely 
a  fair  use  of  Scripture  to  make  the  Apostle's  walking 
ojM&ie  water  once  a  proof  that  we  ought  never  to 
do  jpniything  else.  It  is  carrying  allegorical  inter- 
pretation too  far.  Rest  in  the  Lord,  peace  that  pass- 
eth  all  understanding  guarding  heart  and  ■thought,, 
these  are  scriptural  accounts  of  what  the  new  life  is, 
and  true.  But  these  are  not  the  same ^s  walking 
on  the  water. 

But  why  dwell  on  these  small  blemishes  in  the 
work  of  one  so  honoured  and  so  dear?  What,  after 
all,  do  they  amount  to?.  Only  that  his  words  some- 
times went-  a  little  farther  than  he.  fully  realized ; 
that  he  would  sometimes  ni^e  an  illustration  carry 
'more  than  it  ought  to  carry.  Had  the  book,  the 
outcome  of  his  passionate  yearning  to  save  and  bless 


i\ 


■      V 


■■I- 


i8o 


GEORGE   H.  C.   MACGRECOR 


his  brethren,  been  less  widely  disseminated,  it  wotild 
not  have  been  needful  thus  to  comment  on  it,  and 
one  gladly  turns  from  the  task.  For  noble  and 
admirable  as  the  book  in  its  conceptiorf,  and  in  by 
far  the  greater  portion  of  its  contents  is,  the  man 
himself  was  better.  Whether,  had  he  lived,  he  would 
have  become,  when  thougl\t  and  experience  were 
"fully  matured,  the  theologian  of  the  Keswick  move- 
ment, no  one  can  tell.  But  in  his  brief  life  he  had 
a  higher  honour  still.  He  was  a  man  consumed  by 
the  noblest  ambition  that  ean  fill  the  breast  of  any 
human  being,  the  ambition  to  bring  his  feilow-men 
to  God  ;  and  when"  we  look  back  over  the  life  so 
spent,  and  now  crowned  with  victory,  we  can  but 
say,—     .;.;  ;   :  ' 

Thou  hast  given  him  his  hearts  desire. 


.-■  .    A.,-.^.-^.,^,' 

■■'  '   .  ' 

■  •                                                         ■   .     .      .                   .'  ■  )        ■ 

:  .-z*^- 

■  ^  .■ 

_. 

■  ■   ■  .     .   '    '  -     ■      :                  .    ■  '  ■       ■.     .     :  ■ 

'■    ,1    ■     .       ■ 

.    '  '■'■.■  -\ 

.  .  ■             ■    ■       '    ■         '  ■  ■;  ■           :        ■    '.            '   .  ■  ' 

PASTOR  AND  TEACHER 

1  "■   ■"  .     •* 

^ 


rt^"« 


.♦.* 


181 


^-.    ^•^. 


7    . 


/*•• 


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m- 


is." 


.^.^.  •  «v 


r  -K- 


.■■V. 


-  it. 

m  ■ 


i.    '1 


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"'•  \ 


.\ 


CHAPTER  XI 


•"Hi-      «  «*^ 


f    -T 


Pastor  and  Teacher 

THE  chief  aspect  which  his  life  presented  during 
these  later  years  was  that  of  a  man.  Inces- 
santly occupied  with  public  engagements,  and 
necessarily  much  away  from  home.  Preaching  or 
preparing  to  preach  to  large  congregations  in  his  own  , 
church,  at  Exeter  Hall  or  Keswick  addressing  larger 
audiences  still ;  taking  part  In  one  year  in  moVe  than 
twenty  conventions;  thus  his  time  was  occupied. 
"^  There  arc  but  twenty-four  hours  In  the  day,  and  If 
so  much  time  and  strength  are  given  to  work  for 
large  numbers,  there  is  necessarily  left  much  less  for 
other  duty—for  self-culture  and  for  the  help  of  indi- 
viduals. It  was  observed  before,  that  many  thought 
one  so  intensely  busy  could  not  possibly  find  time  to 
read  ;  a  notion  which  we  found  to  be  a  mistaken  one. 
Not  less  vf€te  they  in  error  who  supposed  that  he 
could  have  little  time  for  pastoral  duty,  and  that 
while  he  jvas  serving  the  Church  at  large,  his  own 
congregktfon  miist  always  suffer.    It  waspof  course, 


^■'•i 


M 


% 


)k 


4» 


xBi 


GEORGE   H.  C.  ilACGREGOR 


impossible  that  he  could  do  as  much  for  the  latter  as 
if  his  whole  time  hatd  been  speht  among  them.    As 
a  member  of  his  church  writes,  "  Congregations  upon 
whom  God  is  pleased  to  bestow  a  ^  front-rank  man  ' 
as  pastor  have  sometimes  to  exercise  forbearance 
when  their  minister  is  called  out  to  wider  ministry." 
And  this  forbearance  was  generously  and  lovingly 
given.    If  sometimes  a  good  man  would  telllhe 
minister,  with  a  gentlef  shake  of  the  head,  that  it  Was 
above  a  year  since  they  had  ha4  a  pastoral  visit,  or 
an  invalid  would  sigh,  now  and  again,  for  a  word  of 
cheer,  and  try  to  praise  God  that  last  week  at  Exeter, 
and  this  week  both  at  Birmingham  and  Sunderland, 
many  were  giving  thanks  for  Jie  blessed  message 
brought  to  them  by  her  dear  pastor,  all  was  forgiven 
in  a  moment  when  at  length  he  appeared.    If  the 
number   of  his   visits   was   not   great,  the   quality 
atoned  for  them,— so    bright,    and    so  clearly  and 
intensely  spiritual.    "  A  Christian  invalid  remarked  " 
—I  quote  again  fp6m  one  of  his  attached  oflfice- 
bearers— "  th|t  she  would  rather  miss  repeated  calls 
from  another  than  go  without  the  quarterly   visit 
which  her  minister  paid  toj^fr."     What  struck  many 
in  the  course  of  these  visits  was  the  evidence  afforded 
that,  whether  they  spoke  with  himrtoften  or  not,  his 
people  were  never  put  of  his  thoughts.    "Always  in 
every  prayer  of  mine  making  request  for  you  all "  s 
was  his  daily  habit,/ftnd  indifferent  ones  sometimes 


,.>"" 


PASTOR  And  teacher 


«8S 


Aj,  ■ 


u^"" 


realized  with  a  kind  of  awe  how  he  was  daily  plead- 
ing for  thefr  souls  at  the  throne  of  God. 

A  special  feature  in  his  ministry  (says  another  office- 
bearer in  the  church)  was  Mr.  Macgregor's  sermons  at  the 
time  of  Communion,  not  always  directly  bearing  upon  the 
ordinance,  but  intertwined  and  woven  with  it  as  a  beautiful 
background,  and  making  Our  Saviour  visibly  stand  out  as 
the  Great  Succourer,  ready  to  give  relief,  no  matter  what 
the  kind  of  need.  His  preparation  classes  also  formed  an 
important  part  of  his  work.  He  held  these  almost  every 
quarter,  alternately  in  the  church  and  in  the  haU,  at  the 
close  of  service  on  Sunday  evening,  when  old  members 
were  also  invited  to  stay.  He  %€ht  over  the  sacraments 
most  carefully,  explaining  and  urging  our  individual 
responsibility.  -Perhaps  the  most  dire^  awakenings  were 
in  connectiori  with  some  of  these  preparation  classes.        - 

The  tendernesfi  of  his  lovelo  Christ  (writes  Mr.  J.  E. 
Mathieson),  and  to  "  the  sheep  of  His  pasture,"  came  out 
very  beautifully  at  the  Communion  table ;  he  loved  to  see 
his  people's  faces  shine  with  holy,  chastened  joy  on  such 
occasions,  as  we  sang  the  praise  of  Him  Who  died,  and 
realized  the  nearness  of  our  Lord  through  the  indwelling 
Holy  Spirit,  and  sought  His  |)revailing  intercessions  for 
deeper  knowledge  of  His  Will  and  more  obedience  of  faith. 
Strong,  teiider,  and  true  was  this  beloved,  greatly  lamented, 
and  much  missed  pastor,  and  though  the  Master  of  the 
House  has  many  other  faithful  servants  available  for  His 
work,  we  may  not  expect  to  see  another  cast  in  this  same 
mould,  at  once  attractive  in  his  personality,  authoritative  in 
his  teaching,  "not  slothful  in  business,  fervent  in  spirit, 
serving  the  Lord."  , 


4* 


,iV''i  :  'IWJ'tKic  Mfawsn^ig-  -K? 


x86 


GEORGE  H.  C.   MACGREGOR 


Thus,  in  the  midst  of  the  flock  over  which  the 
Lord  had  set  him,  did  he  "  allure  to  brighter  worlds 
and  lead  the  way."  If  his  many  labours  abridged 
his  time  for  seeking  and  visiting  his  people  in  their 
own  homes,  he  was  never  too  busy  to  be  wholly  at 
their  disposal  when  they  sought  him,  and  on  "Sun- 
days, and  at  the  close  of  every  service,  he,  often  spent 
almost  as  much  time  in  personal  conversation  as  in 
public  addresses.  More  than  one  has  spoken  of  the 
time  after  service,  when  he  used  to  pass  from  pew  to 
pew  in  the  church,  so  brightly,  patiently,  and  tenderly 
giving  to  each  the  word  of  guidance  or  encourage- 
ment or  consolation  for  which  they  waited.  To  some 
who  had  been  brought  up  under,  a  ministry  of  a' 
different  kind,  all  this  presented  an  absolutely  new 
conception  of  the  pastoral  office,  with  its  responsi- 
bilities and  its  sacred  ties  |  and  one  writes  that  with 
all  reverence  it  may^be  said  that  the  blessed  words. 
The  Lord  is  my  ShepJurdi  seemed  to  have  a  deeper 
and  grander  meaning  than  ever,  when  one  had  seen 
so  lofty  an  embodiment  of  the  work  of^n  under- 
shepherd. 

An  interesting  part  of  his  pastoral  labour,  and  one 
which  ought  not  to  be  overlooked,  was  discharged  by 
correspondence.  It  has  not  been  found  possible  to 
embody  in  this  memoir  more  than  a  small  number 
out  of  the  g^eat  mass  of  letters  which  he  wrote  in  the 
course  of  his  twelve  years'  ministry.    The  reason  is, 


PASTOR  AND  TEACHER     /        187 

he   was    emphatically  a  man  of   business,  and  the 
business  of   his  King  and   Master  required  haste. 
With  a  strong  impression  that  his  l^e  could  not  be  a 
very  long  one,  and  with  innumera^ble  calls  to  work 
on  every/ hand,  he  had  no  time  to  pour  out  the 
leisurely,    delightful,    heart-revealing   letters    which 
formed  one  of  the  charms  of  an  earlier  generation. 
What  he  wrote,  apart  from  home  and  family  letters, 
were  little  more  than  brief  business  notes.     And, 
indeed,   when   he    wrote  at  greater  length,  as  Hie 
sometimes  di4  it  was  business  also,  the  sacred  busi- 
ness  of  his   min'istrys    answers    to    letters    asking 
guidance,  explanations  of  passages  in  his  books,  or 
portions  of  the  Keswick  teachirig.  One  or  two  of  these 
have;  happily,  been  placed  at  our  disposal,  though 
others  are  of  too.  personal  a  nature  to  be  so  made 
use  of.    Very  precious- to  their  recipients  were  some 
brief,  rapidly-written  notes,  containing,  perhaps,  little 
more  than  a  tex^  of  Scripture  or  a  sweet  verse  of  a 
hymn,  but  reminding  a  soul  in  doubt  -or  trouble  that 
the  pastor  was  not  forgetful  of  his  or  her  case,  and 
lightening  the  load  by  the  sense  that  prayer  was 
ascending  for  the  needed  strength.    Thus  he  wrote 
to  a  young  lady  in  the  Post  Office,  severely  taxed  by 
the  long  hours  and  special  strain  of  the  da;^s  immedi- 
ately before  Christmas.  ;  .        0 


r. 


-  ^j#^"-- 


i88 


GEORGE  H    C.  MACGREGOR 


Dear  Miss -^,  ■^'^^^'^'^-^^^^96^ 

I  fipd  you  laid  upon  my  heart  in  connection  with  your 
heavy  work  this  week.  I  have  ^been  praying  for  you  that 
you  may  be  kept  in  perfect  pea^.  "  The  peace  of  God 
j/4a// keep  yopr  heart.'' 

.Hidden  in  the  hoHov^  of  His  blessed  hand,  ' 
Never  foe  can  follow,  never  traitor  stand. 
r         Not  a  surge  of  worry,  not  a  shade  of  care,     r—  t 
Not  a  blast  of  hurry,  touch  the  spirit  there.      ' 

Stayed  upon  Jehovah,  hearts  are  fully  blest; 

Finding,  as  He  promised,  perfect  peace  and  rest. 

Grace,  mercy,  and  peace  from  God  the  Father,  Son,  and 
Holy  Spirit  be  with  you,  all  this  week,  and  evermore. 
Your  affectionate  minister, 

George  H.  C.  Macgregor. 

Of  recent  years  probably  few  of  those  connected 
with  the  Keswick  movement  were  more  consulted 
than  he  by  persons  in  spiritual  difficulties.  The 
insight  and  clearness  which  both  his  speaking  and 
his  writings  showed,  seemed  to  direct  inquirers  for 
further  light  naturally  to  turn  to  him.  Others  con- 
sulted him,  as  we  shall  see,  regarding  foreign  mission- 
ary work.  Where  might  they  find  the  fittest  opening  ? 
Ought  they  to  consider  themselves  free  to  accept 
such  a  call?  If  they  might  look  forward  to  going 
abroad  one  day,  how  ought  they  meanwhile  to  study 
and  endeavour  to  qualify  themselves?  Scores  of 
letters  came  to  hiiir^ith  questldns  such  as  these. 
OUiers  wrote  from  a  condition  of  inteliectual  doubt 


PASTOR  AND  TEACHER 


189 


Of  bcwildermeny  some  really  sceptical,  others  wfth 
perplexities  cm^paratively  easy  to  deal  with  and 
remove.  Fo/all  of  these  he  ^eems  to  have  been 
able  to  findVome  answer,  and  the  letters  of  gratitude, 
though  fe/er  of  them  have  been  preserved,  are  not 
less  striking  than  those  of  searching  enquiry.  Here 
is  a  good  example  ofiiis  manner  of  dealing  with  a 
soul  difficulty.  It  shows  his  quick  insight,  how  he 
could  "strike  his  finger  on  the  place,  and  say,  Thou 
ailest  here,  and  here."  ^ 

J^M/arvii.  1898. 

Many  thanks  for  your  letter  of  29th  ult.,  which  it  was  a 
joy  to  receive.  Perhaps  what  is  hindering  you  from  the 
joy  and  the  steadiness  of  spiritual  experience  for  which  you 
long  is  that  you  are  more  taken  up  with  your  consecration 
Xo  God,  than  with  God's  acceptance  of  your  consecration. 
Remember  that  when  you  yield,  He  takes./  The  matter 
passes  out  of  your  hands  into  His.  You  are  p is  for  ever. 
Rest  on  that,  believe  it,  dwell  on  the  thought  of  ^«  faith- 
fulness, His  powei^^o  keep,  and  that  will  bring  you  where 
you  wish  to  be.     "^ 

May  the  Lord  fill  you  with  His  Spirit,  and  use  you  to  be 
a  blessing  to  others.     ' 

Yours  in  best  bonds, 

George. H.  C,  Macgrecor. 


The  next  letter  is  one  which  was  referred  to  on 
an  earlier  ^age.  .  It  possesses  considferable  autobio- 
graphical interest.  The  frankness  with  which,  for  the 
help  of  another,  he  opens  up  a  long-closed  chapter  of 


190  GEORGE   H.  C.  MACGREGOR 

his  intellectual  and  spiritual  history,  is  characteristic, 
and  not  less  so  is  the  boldness  with  which  some  of 
his  positions  are  stated.      It  is  eminently  a  letter 
calculated  to  stimulate  thought,  and  its  strong  con- 
viction, its  brotherly   tone,  and  the   peculiar    ease 
with  which  it  handles "  great    questions,  give    it   a 
singular  charm.      If  the  enquirer  was  confessedly 
in  some  mental  entanglement  and  confusion,  here 
was    a    guide    wholly    to    one's    mind,    at    once 
sympathetic,    competent,    absolutely    convinced    of 
the   truth,    and    absolutely   straightforward    in    its 
defence.    One  passage  there  is  in  the  letter  which 
sonie  might  shrink  from  writing.     But  his   native 
Calvinism  had  taught    George    Macgregor    to    set 
no  bounds  to  the  majestic  truth   of  the   absolute 
sovereignty,  of  God.      He  gloried  in  the  assertion 
of  it,  that  God  might  be  all  in  all.    And  if  the 
letter  did  not,  at  the  time,  remove  every  difficulty, 
but  still  called  forth  from  his  correspondent  some 
expressions  of  dissent,  it  is  now  a  peculiarly  treasured 
possession,  both  for  the  writer's  sake,  and  because 
it  helped  towards  a  calmer  and  surer  faith  in  after 
days. 

Rose  Cottage,  Braemar, 
Aberdeenshire, 

_  September  \%.  1807. 

Dear  —— ^ 

I  am  glad  that  you  have  wrftten  me,  and  written  me 
so  frankly  about  your  difficulties,  and  the  "tangle"  in 


PASTOR  AND  TEACHER 


191 


which  you  find  yourselfu  To  put  these  things  down  in 
black  and  white  of(ci\  is  a  help,  even  though  we  get  no 
answer  to  our  questions.  I  have  great  diffidence  in 
dealing  with  difficulties,  like  yours,  in  writing.  It  is  only 
by  question  and  answerlhat  they  can  properly  be  handled. 
However,  I  hope  I  may  be  able  to  say  something  that  may 

:  ;  In  regard  to  the  general  attitude  of  your  mind  to  these 
questions'!  feel  inclined  to  say  two  things  : — 

1.  Remember  always  the  relative  positions  of  faith  and 
knowledge.  All  knowledge  is  based  on  faith.  We  take 
for  granted  things  which  we  cannot  prove  ere  we  can  know 
anything.  Take,  for  instance,  our  knowledge  of  the  world 
round  us,  "derived  f^m  our  senses.  That  is  based  on 
the  supposition  that  our  senses  are  not  misleading  us. 
As  you  know,  the  actual  existence  of  a  world  outside 
us  cannot  be  proved.  To  accept  as  a  working  hypothesis 
for  life  something  which  we  cannot  prove  is  not  necessarily 
an  irrational  act.    It  may  be  the  truest  wisdom. 

2.  Remember  that  at  present  we  are  in  the  infancy  of 
our  being,  and  that  to  complain  that  we  cannot  understand 
things,  or  to  expect  that  we  should  understand  things,  is  as 
foolish  as  for  a  child  of  three  years  old  to  expect  to  under- 
stand the  working  of  the  differential  and  integral  calculus. 
The  mysteries  of  the  Christian  faith,  therefore,  are  no 
evidence  that  it  is  not  Divine.  If  it  be  what  it  claims  to 
be,  there  must  be  things  in  it  which  await  explanation  in 
the  future. 

You  ask  me  about  my  faith  in  Scripture  as  the  Word 
of  God.  I  was  trained  up  in  the  strictei^t  possible  way  to 
believe  in  the  inspiration  of  the  Bibkr  But  the  faith  that 
was  the  result  of  this  traioirig'  utterly  gave  way,  and  for  a 


,1  s 


19* 


GEORGE    II.  C.   MACGREGOR 


time  I  lost  all  faith  in  the  Bible  as  inspired.     I  became  an 
utter  sceptic.     But  amid  all  my  scepticism  and  doubt  there 
was  one  thing  that  I  could  not  doubt.    That  was  that  I 
was  not  what  I  Ought  to  be.'   I  was  a  sinner.    Sin  was  a 
fact  in  my  life.    It  was  the  discovery  of  this  ax  a  fact  that 
led  me  back  to  the  Bible.     I  found  it  dealt  with  sin  as 
no    other    book  did,   and   understood   srn   as  no  other 
book  did.      Ckher    books    spoke    of   evil,    vice,   crime  j 
this  of  sin.     I  began  to  see  that  the  inspiration  of  the 
Bible  did  not  lie  so  much  \  in  its  bdng  a  miraculously 
accurate  book,  as  in  its  being  ,|i  book  written  from  God'a 
point  of  view.     I  found  that  the  same  point  of  view  was 
kept  all  through  the  books  written  at  such  different  times 
and  by  such  different  men.    The  whole  book  was  about 
God.    As  I  said,  it  was  "sin"  that  brought  me  back  to 
the  Bible,  but  I  found  hundreds  of  things  converging  to 
confirm  ray  growing  conviction  that  the  book  wa^  of  God. 
Our  Lord  Jesus  became  a  reality  to  me.     He  accepted  the 
Old   Testament  as  the  Word  of  God.     He  became  a 
witness  to  it  for  me.    As  I  have  become  more  familiar 
with  the  Bible,  the  conviction  has  grown  that  God  has' 
had  His  way  all  through  in  conhectiori  with  this  book. 
Our  difficulties  almost  all  arise  eithet  from  ignorance  or 
misunderstanding.  [ 

A  valuable  subsidiary  evidence  is  the  effect  that  the 
Bible  has  on  those  who  accept  it.  The  history  of  our 
Bible  Societies,  and  a  knowledge  of  what  they  are  doing, 
furnishes  an  answer  to  many  a  difficulty.  If  the  Bible 
be  not  inspired,  to  explain  its  influence  and  power  is 
impossible;  if  it  be,  aU  is  plain. 

Your  difficulty  about  "Jacob  have  I  lovedj  and  Esau 
have  I  hated,"  is  the  old  difficulty  about  "Election"  and 


•^ 


"  ■  ■  -t  ■ 


4 


PASTOR  AND  TEACHER 


m 


"  Divine  Sovereignty,"  and  is  of  course  a   very  difficult 

one  to  deal  with.    I  know  no  way  out  of  this  difficulty 

except  by  remembering  that  God  is  Love,  and  that  the 

Will  of  God,  whatever  it  be^  is  the  best  for  the  Universe. 

We  must  remember,  too,  that  as  against  God  none  of  us 

has  any  rights  whatever.    This  is  exceedingly  humbling 

to  us  who  have  such  a  singular  idea  of  our  own  importance. 

"As  the  clay  in  the  hands  of  the  potter,  so  are  we  in  His 

hands."    Only  remember  that  the  gulf  between  clay  and 

potter  is  infinitely  iess  than  the  gulf  between  us  and  God. 

The  one  is  the  gulf  between  two  creatures :  the  other 

between  creature  and  Creator.     A   saner  view  of  our 

own  importance  makes  the  doctrine   of   Election   more 

\  t ,    reasonable,  and  a  firmer  faith  in  the  character  of  God 

as  Love  makes  it  one  of  the  most  hopeful  and  cheerful 

doctrines  of  our  religion.    Surely,  it  is  an  awful  blasphemy 

to  think  that  men  will   be   worse  off   when  their  fate 

dependaf  q%  the  Will  of  God  than  when  it  depends  on 

anything  iH  themselves. 

In  regard  to  the  doctrine  of  eternal  punishment,  I  think 
we  give  ourselves  unnecessary  pain  : 

1.  By  forgetting  that  in  the  Bible  this  is  spoken  of  only 
in  connection  with  definitive  unbelief. 

2.  By  thinking  of  it  as  if  it  were  the  act  of  God 
revengefully  torturing  His  creatures.  This  last  is  a  horrid 
blasphemy.  In  connection  with  this  truly  awful  subject 
there  are  two  things  we  must  remember  : 

(i)  That  few»  if  any  of  Us,  have  any  adequate  conception 

of  the  utter  and  absolute  damnablehess  of  sin.    The  most 

awful  effect  of  sin  on  our  souls  has  been  to  make  us  think 

4fcv/ lightly  of  sin.    If  we  saw  sin  as  God  sees  it,  we  would 

not  wonder  at  what  is  said  of  the  punishment  due  to  it 


S 


^ 


»94 


GEORGE   H,   C.   MACGREGOR 


Remember  that  the  Bible  is  conaiitent  with  itself.  To 
save  from  sin,  according  to  it,  demanded  the  Incarnation 
—the  Cross.  *  - 

(a)  That  we  are  apt  to  forget  the  tendency  of  character 
to  get  fixed.  How  long  will  a  branch  which  has  grown 
crooked  take  to  grow  straight?  Everlasting  crookedness 
is  the  penalty  of  growing  crooked.  If  a  man  is  living  in 
sin,  and  deliberately  refuses  Him  Who  alone  can  save 
from  sin,  there  is  nothing  else  for  it  but  that  he  remain 
under  the  power  of  sin. 

In  regard  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Atonement,  I  think  my 
best  plan  is  to  refer  you  to  Dr.  Dale's  book  on  the 
subject,  or  u^e  chapter  on'  the  subject  in  Dr.  Denney's 
Studies  in  Theoldgy. 

I  do  not  know  that  what  I  have  written  will  be  of  any 
use,  btit  I  send  it  for  what  it  is  worth. 

As  to  what  you  should  do,  it  is  very  difficult  to  say  more 
than  what  I  said  at  Keswick.  Do  not  be  discouraged  by 
all  this  turmoil  and  trouble  of  mind.  Out  of  it  all  God 
will  bring  you  to  a  faith  all  the  stronger  and  clearer 
because  of  it.  JBe  true  to  what  you  know.  Put  it  into 
practice.  Live  as  like  Jesus  Christ  as  you  possibly  can. 
And  remember  He  lives  to  help  you  to  live  like  Him. 
And  as  you  walk^  light  will  break  on  you.  I  shall  often 
prajr  for  you,  and  shall  be  glad  to  hear  from  you,  and  if 
you  are  in  London  to  see  you.  I  return  thither  in  ten 
days. ,       \^ 

With  kindest  regards, 

'         Yours  very  truly, 
George  H.  C.  Macgrecor. 

The  apostoh'c  maxim,  *♦  Give  heed  to  teaching," 


fi  •. ... 


PASTOR  AND  TEACHER 


«95 


>k 


was  one  which  he  specially  laid  to  heart  and  obeyed. 
With  some  of  the  gifts  of  an  orator  to  sway  men's 
feelings,  and  much  of  the  evangelist's  power  of 
compelling  the  will,  he  was,  perhaps,  greatest  of 
all  in  the  simple  lucid  statement  of  truth.  It  was 
often  remarked  that,  while  no  addresses  were  more 
easily  followed  than  his,  because  thought  and 
language  alike  were  so  perfectly  clear,  none  re- 
quired more  thinking  over  afterwards,  if  the  full 
benefit  was  to  be  reaped.  The  amount  of  matter 
contained  in  his  addresses  was  remarkable.  Not 
that  he  ever  professed  to  be  what  is  called  an 
original  thinker,  He  used  frankly  to  tell  his 
audiences  the  sources  which  many  of  his  best 
things  came  frd^  and  bid  them  go  and  search 
for  more  for  themselves.  The  little  book  Praying 
in   tJu  Holy  Ghost,  for  instance,  is  stated   in  the  T 


preface  to  be  based  on  Owen.  To  that  great 
writer,  and  others  of  the  chief  Puritan  divines,  he 
was  never  weary  of  expressing  his  debt,  and  his 
study  of  them  gave  a  peculiar  fulness  and  body 
to  his  speaking  and  preaching,  as  well  as  a  certain 
old-world  flavour  which  Was  singularly  attractive. 
Not  that  either  the  matter  or  the  phrasing  was  in 
any  way  other  than  intensely  alivfe.  He  was  no 
echo,  but  a  living  voice. 

In  Bible  readings  he    peculiarly    excelled;      To 
be  able  to  give  a  good   Bible  reading  is  one  of 


\ 


« 


^^^ 


'  llf 


'-'^'*L. 


194 


GBORGE    H.  C. 


'^ 


4 


the  rarest  gifts.    It 
once  of  Scripture, 
and  all  in  ||ucjlfi|p^ 
elements  is  in^lWbJvi, 


:gregor 


lide   knowledge  at 
\iy,  'and  of  human  life, 
If  any  one  of  these 
the  result  suffers.     Thus,  if 
too  many  texts  are  brought  in,  the  hearer  is  apt 
to  be  bfewildcrcd  ;    if  there  is   too    much  doctrine 
he  is  fatigued ;  if  too  much  or  too  lively  practical 
application,    he  *  may    be    mo^    entertained    than 
profited.    Hut  there  are  those,  *and  Mr.  Macgrcgor 
was    one,    who    know    ho^    to    observe   the    just 
measure.       lie    had    a    scholar's    training    in    the 
Bible  and  in  Christian  doctrine;  both  were  to  him 
his  daily  food ;  and  he  had  also  a  full  and  varied 
acquaintance  with  the  soul's  needs.     His  preference 
lay,  on  the  whole,  in  the  direction  of  topical  rather 
than  textual  exposition.    He  had  a  strong  sense  of 
greatness  of  divine  truth,  and  the  mental  as 
spiritual^nlarg^ent    resuming  from  the 
fit,  andlBrknew  t4ie  danger  of  the  textual 
ing    of   Scripture    degenerating,    if   unskilfully 
used,  into  verbal  trivialities  and  fanciful  or  arbitrary 
interpretations.    That  to  which  he  introduced  his 
hearers  was  genuine  Biblical  theology.     The  four 
addresses    on    the    Bible    doctrine    of    the    Holy 
Spirit,  at  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association 
Conference,  were  a  typical  example  of  his  method ; 
and  the  effect  then  produced,  by  God's  blessing, 
abundantly  justified  it       -   . 


'# 


^i^^i 


PASTOR  An^hrnkmEK 


JChW 


97 


In  these  studies  hia  own  wi^  knowledge  0ioug|| 
evident,  was  never  paradctk  nor  we^p  his  #wn  vicwi 
dogmatically  insistedon.  m^  ratfier  sought  to  bring 
forward  the  evidence  la  he  aM|rs||od  it,  and  let  his 
hearers  form  their  own  coficfi^niw  tn  expounding 
the  Did  Testament,  he  sel(|oniM|bired  to  the  work  of 


nodarn  criticism.  It  was  nof^Phfliry  to  do  so,  for 
ilhe  WDrk  he  was  doing  was  no|  afTected  by  it.  But 
from  lis  collcgt  days  he  had  b^  familiar  with  tho^ 
mcthodiof  modern  Bible  study.  Bid  the  conclusions 
which  many  devout  and  sober-mAded  dcholar-s  hav«^> 
arrived  at,  and  he  was  far  from  regiirding  these  with 
the  distrist  or  aversion  which  are  sometimes  seen. 
We  have  |een  his  affectionate  and  cA^ial  tribute  to 
the  work  and  memory  of  Dr.  Robertson  Smith.  He 
warns  thene,  as  he  always  did,  against  criticism  which 
is  not  pufVucd  in  a  reverent  and  deeply  believing 
spirit  He  thought  that  critics  had  been  sometimes 
rash  and  premature  in  their  j^i^dgments,  and  would  join 
good-naturedly  in  the  laugh  at  some  critical ,  extrava- 
gance. But  he  remained  alj*  his  days  Professor  David- 
son's  pupil.     In  all  these  matters  the  minister  of 

.  Notting  Hill  stood  precisely  wher^the  New  College 
Hebrew  tutor  had  stood.  "We  had^only  once,"  writes 
Professor  George  Adam  Smith  of  him,  "a  long  talk 
together  on  serious  matters.     It  was  after  he  became 

f  connected  with  Keswick,  and  I  was  struck  with  the 
fact  that  he  talked  with  the  greatest  sympathy  and 


,*^ 


•' 


* 

i':\i.\ 

.  -.'>' 

-;-•; » . 


198 


GEORCE  h.  c.  macgregor 


/- 
,/■-. 


approval  of  modern  Biblical  criticism.    He  seemed  to 
have  read  a  good  deal  on  the^  modern  j^ines,  and  to 
accept  fiot  only  the  legitimacy  of  the  critical  methods, 
but  a  number  of  the  results.    Of  course,  I  cannot  say 
how  far  he  went."     I  remember  how  he  would  depre^ 
'  cajte  the  needless  unsettling  of  people's  minds,  recog- 
•  hising  how  certain  terms,  innocent  enough  in  them- 
selves, at  once  excitecl  suspicion  of  a  lurking  danger. 
Thus,  in  the  pulpit  he  would  never  use  the  word  criti- 
cism, but  would  rather  speak  of  Bible  study.     His  last 
address,  to  Christian  Endeavourers  at  the  City  Temple, 
.contained  a  defence  of  the  sober  aijd  reverent  criti- 
cism which,  whiie  testing  all  things^  holds  fast  that 
which  is  good.  -'■%.  ' 

It  is  matter  of  regret  to  those  who  knew  him  that 
he  has  left  so  little  written.  For,  bright  and  useful  as 
all  his  little  books  are,  there  is  nothing  which  gives 
an  adequate  jmpression  of  his  powers.  One  and  all, 
however,  are  admirable  in  their  own  kind  as  examples 
of  devotional  writing,  earnest,  tender,  and  wise.  TAe 
Aspiratidni'of  the  Christian  is  rich  in  spiritual  sugges- 
tion. How  much,  for  instance,  such  a  sentence  as 
this  gives  one  to  think  of:  "  God  usually  guides  by 
whispers,  and  those  who  would  b«  guided  by  Him 
must  keep  near  Him  "  (p.  85).  There  is  the  explana- 
tion why  many  so  seldom  hear  the  Divine  Voice  at 
all.  Gospel  ^liinpseSy  i\so,  appears  to  me  a  very 
model  in  its  own  way.    These  studies  in  St.' Mark  are 


>  * 


^ 


PASTOR  AND  TEACHER 


«99 


t 


*    4' 


Very  brief,  only  ten  or  eleven  pages  o|tf||^e  average, 
and  some  might  call  them  slight.  T^fy  make  no 
pretension  to  expound  the  story.  They  merely  select 
a  number  of  salient  points,  singling  014  In  ^ach  of 
theni^ne  definite  truth  or  lesson,  pressing^  that  home 
with  great  freshness  and  point,  and  stopping  there. 
It  would  be  difficult  to  find  better  examples  of  ho- 
miletic  restraint  In  subjects  such  as  Our  Lord's 
baptism,  bristling  with  topics  for  exposition  and 
application,  the  skill  in  selecting  one  thought,  and  the 
reserve  which  for  the  present  declines  to  take  up  any- 
thing else,  are  very  noteworthy.  It  is  the  art  of 
driving  one  nail  at  a  time.  And  the  lessons  them- 
selves aretso  fresh  and  striking,  by  no  means  the  first 
which  present  themselves  on  the  surface.  "  Why,  he 
is  reading  Keswick  into  the  first  chapters  of  -  St. 
Mark  I "  said  one.  And  why  not  ?  If  the  truths  of 
God's  Holy  Spirit  and  the  life  of  faith  were  not  in 
these  chapters,  the  Gospel  of  St  Marku  would  be 
.anothl?r  gospel  than  that  we  know.     %^^ 

Hia  intellectual  lucidity  and  grasp  specially  fitted 
hini  to  be  an  exponent  of  Keswick  teaching  to  those 
who  came  with  some  prejudice  or  doubt  in  their 
minds.  If  his  intense  earnestness  could  not  fail  to 
impress,  his  reasonableness  and"  ability  conciliated 
and  convinced.  In  some  remarkable  instances, 
where  men  of  very  different  theological  schools  came 
to  Keswick,  it  was  fouad  that  among  all  the  speakers 


•*. 


./ 


„1' 

if  ..■"■■     ■    ■■',....  ■ 

:'•:■;■':•: 

■    *        ■.".   ■'           -*;'■.-    -■"  •" 

W':-::\ 

^'. 

•      .    ■ 

, 

u 

- 

-■    .  ,.     ;:;■.■      ,,    . 

• 

•  -. 

.■>•'"- 

» 

'■    •  . 

aoo 


GEORGE   H,  C.  MACGREGOR 


the  young  Scotsman  was  the  one   who  had  most 
strongly  interested  and  impressed  them.    But  one  of 
the  most  interesting  tributes  to  his  service  in   the 
cause  which  he  had  so  much  at  heart  was  that  of  a 
well-known  and  devoted  worker  in  a  foreign  country. 
•It  was  his  first  visit  to  Keswick,  and  at  first  the  tone 
and  atmosphere  ^^IHiired  a  little  strange.     He  re- 
marked to  a  l^^fpthat  he  felt  as  if  the  speakers 
meant  nothing  ?3i^^  different  from  what  he  knew  and 
accepted,  but  there  was  some  impalpable  difference  ; 
it  was,  he  said,  as  if  they  were  all  playing,  they  and 
he;  in  the  same  orchestra,  but  his  instrument  was  not 
quite  in  tune  with  the  rest.    That  evening  George 
Maegregor  was  the  principal  speaker,  and  his  con- 
vincing and  beautiful  exposition  swept  the  stranger's 
difficulties  all  away.    "It's  all  right  now,"  he  said  to 
his  friend j  as  they  left  the  tent  together;  "Maegregor 
has  tuned  me  I" 


'\      . 


.   .  -  *    ■ 

: 

^^\- 

■  ■,'."'  .   "''  ..:■  // 

»i  * 

^.--L.... 

-ii-si-».i',Si;s; 

'\ 


AMERlQ^N   JOURNEYS 


-.-■.  <  .-.. 


801 


♦   ■;  v: 


I    . 

I- 


"'"'  §J*  %y^>iKf  ' 


-•5?^^  ■ 


■% 


CHAPTER  XII 
■    American  Journeys    —      - 

TOWARDS  the  dose  of  1892,  the  Conimittee  of 
the  Keswick  Convention  were  urged  to  send 
a  deputy  or  deputies  to  Canada,  to  make  known  to 
the  Christian  public  in  the  chief  cities  of  the  Do- 
minion  what  Keswick  teaching  meant.    In  Canada, 
as  elsewhere,  a  measure  of  prejudice  hadv existed  in 
former  years,  arising,  no  doubt,  from  the  unguarded 
expressions  "which  belong  to  Ihe  earlier  stages  of 
every  gfreat*movement,  and  which,  in  this  case,  ap-/ 
peared  to  imply  the  teaching  of  perfection.     But 
some  prominent  Canadians,  who  had  themselves  been 
at  Keswick  and  received  blessingftame  home  to  dis- 
pel these  misunderstandings.    They  were  now,  how- 
ever,  anxious  to  have  them  dissipated  in  the  most . 
authoritative  way  by  ant  actual  visit  from  some  of 
the  recognised  heads  of  the  movement.    This,  it  was 
earnestly  hoped,  would  not  „only  remove  all  wrong .. 
impressions,  but  bring  blessing  to  all  the  churches  of 
Canada..-     ^/i';-    ■.■-^.        '■. 


r 


*<>4. 


GEORGE  H.  C.  MACGREGOR 


The  suggestion  and  invitation  were  cordially  re- 
ceived. Very  .gladly  would  the  committee  see  their 
work  thus  extended  in  other  fields;  but  was  it 
practicable,  could  they  get  men  to  go?  The  first 
man  asked  was  the  Rev.  Hubert  Brooke.  However 
attractive  the  proposal,  in  ordinary  circumstances  it 
would  have  been  impossible  for  him  to  accept  it  But 
at  this  particular  juncture  It  happened  that  he  was 
recovering  from  illness,  and  in  need  of  a  change ;  and 
so  far  from  prohibiting,  his  medical  man  declarid  that 
a  Canadian  trip  would  be  the  very  thing  to  set  him 
up.  After  a  little  cbi-respondence  it  was  found  that 
both  Mr.  Inwood  and  Mr.  Macgregor  could  accom- 
pany Mr.  Brooke,  and  it  was  arranged  accordingly. 
The  party,  Mrs.  Brooke  accompanying  her  husband, 
sailed  from  Liverpool  in  the  Majestic,  on  the  5th  of 
April,  1893,  and  spent  two  months  on  their  mission. 

It  was  a  singular  thing  that  the  three  men  thus 
associated  had  hitherto  hardly  known  each  other. 
Mr.  Brooke  had  never  heard  either  of  his  colleagues 
speak.  Mr.  Macgregor's  first  appearance  on  the 
Keswick  platform  had  been  only  the  previous  sum^ 
mer,  and  then  Mr.  Brooke  happened  to  be  absent 
Mr.  Inwood  was  in  a  similar  position.  But  the  com- 
mittee who  selected  them  knew  all  three,  and  had 
been  guided  to  A  singularly  happy  choice.  In  nearly 
every  respect  the  three  missioners  were  the  comple- 
ments of  one  another.     Not  only  did  they  stand,  as 


*  -.^ 


. 


'■fL' 


'  .r 


3P: 


"WV^' ' 


-.^ 


. 


AMERICAN  JOURNEYS 

regards  nationality,  for  the  three  kingdoms,  England, 
Scotland,  and  Ireland,  and  in  church  connection  for 
Episcopacy,  Presbyterian  ism,  and  Methodism — the 
three  churches  which  hold  throughout  Canada  so 
commanding  a  position ;  but  their  gifts,  also,  ia 
their  diversity  formed  a  remarkable  combination  for 
united  work.  A  friend  who  crossed  with  them  in 
the  Majestic,  happened  to  tell  the  story  of  a  negro 
preacher  who  once  announced  to  his  audience:  "First, 
breddren,  I'se  give  de  expounderin' ;  next,  we'se  have 
de  argufication ;  and  lastly,  we'se  come  to  de  arouse- 
ment"l  There  was  a  shout  of  laughter  at  the  story, 
but  the  three  fellow-workers  at  oncecaught  it  up  as 
describing  their  own  scheme  for  work.  Mr.  Brooke, 
with  his  remarkable  gift  in  Bible  readings,  was  to 
pave  the  way  with  the  •' expounderin'."  M|r.  Mac- 
gregor,  probably  the  most  theological  of  the  three, 
would  undertake  the  "argufication,"  the  statement 
and  defence  of  theological  positions.  And,  finally, 
to  Mr;  Inwood  would  fall,  mainly,  tlie  business  of 
"arousement,"  pressing  home  the  great  truths  they 
taught  for  heart  and  conscience,  and  seeking  to  bring 
their  hearers  to  decision.  ' 

;  The  programme  and  division  of  time  was  simple. 
A  week  was  given  to  each  of  a  number  of  towns.  There 
was  disappointment  in  every  ease  that  ihey  must  leave 
after  so  short  a  time,  but  the  time  ^as  sufficient  for 
their  special  purpose,  which  was  not  to  <:onduct  a 


'7:'";:' 


/ 


»o6 


GEORGE   H.  C.  MACGREGOR 


^ 
'^.1 


mission  in  each  place  (though  they  would  gladly 
have  done  so  if  it  had  been  possible) ;  but  to  state 
briefly,  for  the  instruction  and  strengthening  of  be- 
lievers, what  they  held  to  be  of  faith  on  th^  great 
theme  of  holiness.    The  voyage  was  a    somewhat 
Stormy  one,  but   Mr.  Macgregor  enjoyed  it,  as  he 
always  did.    From  New  York,  where  they  landed 
they  went  direct  to  Northfield,  addressing  the  young 
men  and  women  of  Mr.  Moody's  Institutes,  in  the 
course  of  their  visit  of  a  couple  of  days.     Montreal 
h^d  the  first  complete  Week;   then  Toronto;   next 
Guelph,  Hamilton,  Lockport,  N.Y.  (four  days  only) ; 
lastly  Chicago,  the  one  city  in  the  States  where  they 
worked.    There  the  three  spent  the  usual  week,  work- 
ing together;  but  Mr.  Brooke,  who  during  the  tour 
had  once  or  twice  had  brief  returns  of  illness,  remained 
longer,  and  addressed  a  number  of  meetings  after  his 
colleagues  had  left  for  home. 

Of  this  brief  and  happy  united  ministry  none  of 
the  fellow-labourers  seem  to  have  preserved  much 
lyritten  record,  but  it  made  a  very  deep  impression 
upon  them  all,  and  its  memory  Is  a  very  sunny  and 
bright  one  with  those  who  remain.  What  George 
Macgregor  felt  is  expressed  in  a  letter  to  his  wife. 

This  trip  has-been  to  myself  a  time  of  great  blessing. 
I  would  not  have  missed  it  ^  for  the  world.  That  to  me 
who  am  less  tBan  the  leas^of  all  saints  this  grace  should  be 
given,  to  be  at  the  initiatfei^  of  this  great  spiritual  move- 


AMERICAN   JOURNEYS 


ao7 


ment  in  Canada,  fills  mt  with  the  deepest  wonder  and 
gratitude. 

Their  experiences,  no  doubt,  were  mingled.     In 

one  or  two  places  they  found  that  their  visit  had 

been  placarded  as/a  visit  of  "  The  Keswick  Brethren," 

and  that  some  good  people  were  at  a  loss  to  know 

whether  they  belonged  to  some  new  section  of  the 

Plymouth  Brethren.    This  difficulty  was  soon   got 

over.    At  Toronto  they  were  happy  in  meeting  at 

the  outset  a /large  gathering  of  ministers,  not  fewer 

than  two  hupdred.     It  was  all-important  to  secure  the 

Confidence  and  the  hearty  co-operation  of  such  a 

band  of  God's  servants.    At  the  beginning,  however, 

there  was  manifest,  though  in  no  unkindly  way,  a. 

certain  distrust    What  was  it  that  these  brethren 

were    bringing?      Was    it    anything    of   '^  another 

gospel,"  or  was  it  all  contained  in  the  Old  Book? 

Did  they  teach  sinless  perfection,  or  what  was  their 

doctrine?    After  prayer   the  deputies    successively 

made  their  statements.    Their  humility,  their  brother- 

liness,  their  wisdom,  and  the  power  given  to  them, 

we^e  manifest  to  all.     They  brought  no  new  doctrine, 

jio  new  commandment,  but  that  which   the  church 

has  had  from  the  beginning ;  only  they  desired  to 

bring  the  working  and  power  of  the  mighty  Spirit 

of  God  into^  greater  promirience,  and  to  summon 

believers  to  claim  the  Lord  Jesus  as  made  of  God- 

unto  them  sanctification  as  well  as  redemption.    The 


..< 


*. 


M- 


'i^\ 


^:&C  - 


.■V 


<t 


108 


GEORGE    ft  C  MACGREGOR 


.jB«,U3t  melted  .w.y.  With  full  heart,  the  minister, 
joined  .in  thankful  and  believing  prayer,  and  the 
meeting  broke  up  after  ainging  "  Prai«  God.  from 
WhoTj  all  bleMings  flo*.»    A  week  of  real  blessing 


I*«|other  city  the  experience  was  dilTerent    The 
meettags  were  largely  attended,  the  people  ««med 
intelligent  and  well  trained  in  divine  things;  yet  there 
was  a  st^nge  chill  and  unresponsiveness,  night  after 
night    Each  of  the  fliissioner,  was  conscious  of  it 
though  none  could  explain  what  it  was.    On' the 
,  .dosing  night  one  of  them  plainly  told  the  congrega- 
1    "°"  'hat.therft  was  something  i„  them,  something 
about  the.plac,i,  which  was  kfcping  back  the  blessing 
Many    thjnked    him    afterwards    for   this    faithful 
rebuke    For  it  was  true.    Some  things  came  out 
which  showed  how  both  in  the  churches  of  the  town 

and  in  the  Young  Men-,  Christian  Association  living 
rehgion  ^vas  at  a  very  low  ebh  Doubtless  it  i, 
different  now.  but.  as  matter,  then  were,  the  apathy 
with  which  the  appeal  to  live  a  holier  life  was 
received  that  week  was  easily  explained. 

<•  ^"^^l.^'-  ^'^"^'"  »<=«Pt«l  an  Invitation 
from  Mr.  Moody  to  take  part  In  the  Northlield  Con- 
ferenee  of  that  year.  Mr.  Campbell  Morgan  wa,  to 
be^the  other  speaker  from  England.  Mr.  Macgregor 
and  he  were  stranger,  to  each  other,  and  both  felt  it 
would  ««m  odd  if  two  minister,  from  London  were 


I  • 


■WW 


AMERICAN  JOUkNBYS 


ao9 


to  meet  for  the  first  tfmc  on  a  platform  In  America. 
Mr.  Morgan  gives  a  characteristic  account  of  their 
meeting.  / 

We  felt  tfiat  we  ought  to  meet,  and  know  something  at 

any  rate  of  each  other's  position  before  going— for  prior  to 

that  time  we  had  never  met.    This   seemed   the   more  "     * 

necessary  as  we  had^p^j  been  led  to  understand  by  :^-^— 

friends  that  we  represeB^  twQ  schools  of  thought  on  the 

great  subject  of  the  believer's  sanctification.    Alas!  that 

such  things  should  be  I    We  met  in  m/ house,  and  talked 

the  matter  over,  certainly  for  not  more  than  a  couple  of 

hours.    We  parted  feeling  that  each  had  found  a  new  ^ 

friend   and  comrade  in  service.    We  met  next  on  the 

ground  at  Northfield.  S.^ 

Mr.  Macgregor's  journal  of  this  interesting  mission 
is  unusually  full  and  detailed,  and  the  story  is  there-     ' 
fore  best  given  in  his  o«vn  words.     He  started  from  ♦  . 

Keswick,  along  with  Dn  and  Mrs.  Pierson,  at  the        "*  ' 

close  of  the  Converkion  jveek,  on  Saturday,  July  24, 
1897,  and  sailed  from  Liverpoof  in  the  Z«r««iVj  the 
same  afternoon.  They  had  a  pleasant  passage,  and 
much  interesting  converse  by  the  way,  reaching  New  ;■ 

York  in  good  time  the  following  Friday.  '"  :     •     ., 

ff  -  ',■.■.' 

Saturday,  July  ^i,  1897.— It  is  interesting  to  be  in  this 
great  country  again.     We  travelled  today  by  the  New  - 

York,  New  Haven,  and  Hartford  Railway  to  Springfield,        *;    V 
and  thenceup  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut  river  to  South    ■-''--v  r:--^r^:': 
Vernon.    Here  a  laige  number  got  out  for  Northfield. 


•  10 


GEORGE    H.  C.  MACGREGOft 


.  ) 


I  w«i  met  by  Mr.  William  Moody,  D.  L.  Moody'i  cldert 
•on,  who  drove  me  to  Northfipld.  The  pUcc  it  an  earthly 
paradise,  and  ii  at  present  looking  iti  loveliest.  The  view 
from  the  house  where  I  am  staying  ii  limp}^  perfect 
I  was  driven  to  Mn.  Fitt't  (Mr.  Moody**  daughter 
Emma).  ^  \         «  / 

At  four  Mr.  Moody  came  down  to  see  me,  and  we  drove 
off  together,  taking  Mr.  Campbell  Morgan,  who  was  going 
to  Boston,  to  the  station,  and  driving  round  the  principal 
buildings.  After  tea  came  the  first  meeting  I  went  to,  on  a 
spot  called  the  Round  Top.*  This  is  like  Friar's  Crag  at 
Keswick,  in  that  the  meetings  held  on  it  are  very  in- 
formal. 

For  the  first  day  or  two,  as  In  all  his  missions,  as 
well  as  in  his  writings,  Mr.  Macgregor  gave  hfmsclf 
to  the  efiprt  to  deepen  in  his  hearfrs  the  sense  of  sin 
and  need.  He  was  not  sure  whether  this  was 
acceptable  teaching,  but  he  felt  it  needful,  and  thank- 
fully notes — "  Mr.  Moody .  was  much  moved  and 
pleased,  and  begged  me  to  keep  on  that  line  for  a 
time." 

Tuesday,  August  3.— -This  morning's  meeting,  the  be- 
ginning  of  the  serious  work  of  the  Convention.  Mr. 
Morgan  spoke  first  on  Malachi — a  most  marvellous  address : 
he  speaks  with  immense  power.  I  followed  on  "Cursed 
be  he  that  doeth  the  work  of  the  Lord  deceitfully."  God 
is  inrorking  in  the  peoplci's  hearts. 

*  It  is  on  Round  Top,  as  the  reader  will  remember,  that  the 
Itrangernow  visits  Mr.  Moody's  grave. 


\a 


■*% 


AMERICAN   JOURNEYS 


■It 


Wtdmsdixy,  Augutt  4.~A  molt  b«autfful  day,  and  very 
warm.  A  nice  speaker*'  Prayer  Meeting  at  9. 30.  Then  to 
the  Auditorium.  I  ipoke  on  Iiaiah  i.  15,  on  the  cleansing 
power  of  God.  Morgan  followed  with  a  wonderful  talk  on 
Matthew  v.  48,  ••  Be  ye  perfect."  The  impression  was  very,- 
very  deep.  It  was  the  most  solemn  meeting  of  the  Con* 
vention  so  far.  Many  were  utterly  broken  dojrn  before 
Qitd,       ,■ --  ^  -^--^-------,^- — --,-     :,^^ 

In  the  afternoon  at  3  we  had  .a  solemn  memorial  ser-  " 
vice  for  Hugh  Beaver  and  Professor  Henry  Drummond. 
^At^,  on  Round  Top,  Dr.  Erdmann  answered  questions. 
'  At  A30  we  had  David,  the  Tamil  Christian ;  and  at  7.30 
Professor  English.  Then  we  went  to  Mr.  Moody's,  where  I 
told  them  about  Bishop  Taylor  Smith's  work.  Mr.  Moody 
has  been  profoundly  moved  by  the  meetings  of-  the  morn- 
ings 

Tliursday^  August  5.— During  the  night  we  had  a  great 
rain-storm,  yet  by   10  in  the  morning  all    wa«'  bright. 
Many  more  people  present :  every  train  Ijrings  new  people 
just  now.    Morfan  spoke  first  on  "Wilt  thou  be  made 
whole ?"  (John  V.  6),- and  I  followed  on  "Lord,  if  Thou 
wilt,  Thou  canst  make  n^e  clean  "  (Matt.  viii.  a).    The  ^ 
people  are  pjuch  Impressed  by  the   agreement    of  ouil^^;  . 
messages.    There  was  a  deep  impression,  and  it  ji  so"*! 
blessedly  evident  that  God  is  at  work.    In  the  afternoon  . 
Mr.  Moody  gave  a  splendid  address  on  the  Bible.    The 
nearer  one  comes  to  Moody,  the  more  one  is  impressed  by     , 
Jiim.    He  is  a  giant :  the  greatest  religious  force  in  America 
today.     .  '  _  .       -    '       ' 

Friday,  August  d.^yjt  began  ar«.45  with  a  ministers'  - 
meeting.    Morgan  and.  I  gave  our   experiences,  telling   % 
■Imply  what  the  Lord  had  done  with  us.    The  effect  very 


■i* 


■>5 


-TT— 


ai2 


OEORGE  l^r^CUACGKEJGQR 


marked.    The  ministers  had  met  for  questions,  but  after^-i;^ 
the  experiences  had  been  told  one  got  up  and  said  that  he" 
did  not  think  any  questions  should  be  asked.    They  all 
cried  "Amen,"  and  the  meeting  closed.    At  the  morning 
meeting     I    spoke    on    "  Kept    rejoicing,"    Morgan    on 
"Health."    We  then  went  to  dinner  at  Dr.  Pierson's.' 
Afternoon  spent  largely  in  personaL  dealing. 

After  a  hasty  run  to  Boston,  where,  as  Mr.  Morgan 
*  haH  done  a  week  before,  he  preached  on  the  Sunday 

in  Tremont  Temple,  Mr.  Macgregor  continues : — 
*      .,-'..■■    '  '   .  ■  •■   ■  •  ■   •■.■,■• 

'  Tuesdayy  August  iq.-^The  audience  larger  than  it  has 
yet  been,  and  the  interest  decidedly  deeper.  I  spoke  on 
"  Kept  safe  in  His  life,"  and  Morgan  followed  by  a  most' 
remarkable  address  on  "Fellowship."  Many  were  helped. 
|n  the  evening  Dr.  Grattan  Guinness.  He  has  never  been 
in  Acperica  before,  and  it  is  so  pleasant  to  get  his  im' 
pressions  of' things.  He  spoke  splendidly,  and  brought  us 
very  near  to  Godf  We  are  filled  with  wonder  at  the  way 
God  is  leading  us  all  here. 

'  Thus,  day  after  day,  the  blessing  continued.    The 
?  closing  scene  was  on  the  following  .Sunday  evening. 

Sunday  Evening,  August  15.— This  was  our  last  Con-    ^ 
ference  meeting,  and  a  most  remarkable  otte».    Mr.  Moody 
was  conducting  the  meeting,  and  spdke  of  the  inar^irellous 
blessing  received.    Then,  without  a  word  of  warning  tcTitti- 
he  said,  "Would  it  not  be  a  good  thing  if  our  two  brethren 
could  come  to  us  next  year  ?    It  would  be  so  much  easier 


-■*t 


-  AMERICAN  JOURNEYS  rii 

working  the  Conference  than  doing  it  with  new  men." 
The  response  was  overwhelming.    The  entire   $udienc^^ 
rose  to  its  feet,  and  remained  standing,  and  would  not  be 
seated  until  Morgan  and  I  had  said  that  we  should  regard 
the  invitation^so  given  in  the  jgravest  possible  light,  and 
come  back  unless  it  were  quite  clear  to- us  that  we  should 
ndt.    The  demonstration  of  feeling  toward  us  has  been 
extraordinary,    the  people  have  taken  us  to  their  very 
hearts.    A  vfery  solemn  after- meeting.    Both  of  us,  how- 
ever, have  felt  that  the  strain  of  the  Conference  has  been 
telling  on  the  people,  and  that  their  power  of  hearing  has 
almost  beeh  exhausted.    It  is,  on  the  whole,  well  that  the 
timeisover.,.^here  will  now  be  time  to  digest  what  has 
been  received;'  ' 


•.«•♦; 


■cs, 


^"^ 


After  Northfield  the  friends  parted  company,  and 

^     Mr.  Macgregor  travelled  westward  to  Winona  Fark,^ 
in    Indiana,  a  jijj&rming   summer    resort,  where  a 

;  Convention  liad  been  arranged,  under  the  auspices  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church.  The  numbers  attending  it 
were  not  very  large,  some  800,  but  of  these  loo  or 
120  were  ministers.  Here,  again,  there  was  a  time  of 
much  quickening  and  joy.  Returning  by  Chicago,  he 
notes  the  various  sights  of  that  wonderful  city,  and 
the  interesting^  experience  he  enjoyed  with  the  young 
men  and  women  of-Mr^>!oody's  Bible  Institute,  over 

^  wiiich  he  had  been  invited  in  1393  to  preside. 

>^At  Winon^  Park^  h^  gives  a  graphic  picture  of  a 
characteristic  ^nd  interesting  scene.    In  the  morning  : 
an  excellent  address  had  been  given  by  Dr.  Patergon 


ss 


814 


GEORGE  H.  C.  MACGREG( 


on  "  How  to  Study  the  Bible,"  and  a  solemn  address 
on  Isaiah  i.  25  by  Mr.  Macgregor. 

After  dinner  we  went  to  the  Y.M.C.A.  Camp  to  be 
present  at  a  flag-raising.  This  was  a  mpst  interesting  and 
thoroughly  American  cerelmony.  A  camp  for  Y.M.C.A. 
men  has  been  formed,  and  this  was  a  sort  of  dedication  of 
it,  Dr.  Chapman  made  4  little  speech.  Then  they  sang, 
"My  country,  'tis  of  thee  "—their  National  Anthem.  Then 
the  "  stars  and  stripes "  was  raised,  amid  tremendous 
cheers.  After  it  was  up,  I  was  called  upon  to  speak,  and 
got  a  great  welcome.  When  I  was  done,  out  of  courtesy  to 
me  they  sang  a  verse  of  ••God  save  the  Queen,"  and  gave 
three  eheers  for  the  Union  Jack  I 


,«»• 


Both  Mr.  Maegrogor  and  Mr.  Morgan  were  able  to 
accept  the  invitation  to  return  to  Northfield  in  1898, 
which  had  been  given  Ayith  such  warmth,  and  in  the 
opinion  of  both  the  work  of  that  second  season  was 
even  deeper  and  more  remarkable  than  the  first  They 
seemed  to  take  up  the  work  just  where  they  had  left 
off,  and  continue  as  if  there  had  been  no  interval  of  a 
year.  It  was  this  second  year  that  Mr.  Macgregor 
g^ve  the  address  on  the  bored  ear  (Exod;  xxi.  5,  6), 
which  was  perhaps  attended  with  more  direct  and 
manifest  blessing  than  any  other  address  of  his  in 
either  yeaf.  In  general  character,  however,  the 
second  Conference  was,  naturally,  very  like  the  firsi^ 
^and  the  lively  sketches  contributed  by  Dr.  Teunis 


S  ■' 


AMERICAN  JOURNEYS 


"5 


Hamlin  to  the  Americsin  Sunday  School  Times  might 
Mually  apply  t<y  either. 


Mr.  MaCgtM^r  (Dr.  Hamlin  says)  is  quite  tall,  slender, 
erect,  with  a  fine,  ^scholarly  face,  and  an  extremely  earnest 
manner*  He  has  a  littfe~oC|he  "holy*  tone,"  though^%|its 
best  his  voice  is  very  $weet  and^iecsuasive.     He  has  a"  trick 


rather  distract- 
sooj^etjind  his 


truth  is  so  won- 
le  like;  yet  such 


of  incessantly  adjusting  his  cuffs,  whict 
ing.  But  he  deals  honestly  with  both  his 
audience.  He  tri^s  to  create  only  genuine  impressidr 
and  never  factitious  emotions.  He  is  p(!rhaps  too  much 
given  to  saying  parenthetically,  "Oh,  this 
derfuU  "  or,  "Oh,  this  passes  belief! "  or  tl 
things  are  never  said  of  commonplaces,  a$  is  the  wont  of 
weak  men,  but  only  of  the  greatest  utterances  of  revelation. 
While  intensely  impressive,  he  is  seldom  passionate,  though 
few  that  heard  it  will  ever  forget  his  warning  against  think- 
ing that  the  richest  blessing  can  be  obtained  only  at  this  or 
that  place,  or  from  this  or  that  minister.  "  It  is  not  "North- 
field  we  want,  but  the  God  of  Northfield  "  j  and  then,  in 
ringing  tones,  "  Qh,  cease  from  man,  whose  breath  is  in 
his  nostrils ! "  Every  sermpn  of  Mr.  Macgregor  reveals  the 
cultured  theologian,  the  profound  student  of  the  Bible,  the 
simple-hearted  Christian,  and  the  ardent  lover  of  the  Lord 
Jesus.  '  '  . 

Of  both  speakers  Dr.  Hamlin  says:— 

Their  preaching  has  been  almqst  exclusively  to  Chris- 
tians. *  They   began   with   sin  in  the  believer's  life— sin 

*  Nothing  but  his  pleasant  Highland  accent.    There  wasnrot 
a  trace  of  sanctimoniousness. 


$-- 


f 


If 


I     ') . 


t 


^f- 


ai6 


GEORGE  H.  C.  MACGREGOR 


unbonfessed,  unrecognised,  or  consciously  cherfshed-^ 
and  dealt .  with  it  with  mercilessly  searching  power. 
They  held  forth  Jesus,  not  only  as  the  Saviour  from 
the  penalty  and  guilt  of  sin,  bat  from  its  dominion  in 
the  daily  life;  as  able,  not  only  to  save  by  His  death, 
but  to  keep  safe  in  His  life  all  those  that  commit 
themselves  fully  to  Him,  of,  in  Mr.  Morgan's  fevourite 
phrase,  "  abandon  themselves  "  to  Him.  And  then,  with 
wonderful  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures,  especially  of  the 
Gospels  and  the  Epistles,  they  set  forth  the  rjchness  and 
satisfying  fulness  of  a  life  of  faith.  Control  pver  temper 
and  tongue,  freedom  from  worry  and  fretfulness,  un^nter- 
nipted  peace  and  overflowing  joy,  superiority  to  circum- 
stance^ they  described  with  alluring  beauty,  not  as  things 
to  be  attained  by  the  believer's  axertions,  l^ut  to  be  accepted 
from  the  gracious  Rede^er.  ( Jesus  Christ  is  thus  the 
beginning  and  middle  and  end  of  the  preaching  of  these 
two  men  of' God. 


..r^-^^  . 


^ 

r 


They  have  taken  pains  to  warn  aB  hearers  not  to  go 
away  assuming  that  they  are  holier  than  others,  and 
proudly  attempting,  when  they  reach  home,  to  set  every 
one  aboiimhem  right  They  have  urged  that  the  life  sur- 
rendered to  Christ  is  essentially  a  humble  life,  from  which 
"boasting  is  excluded,"  because  one  is  so  deeply  conscious 
of  having  nothing  that  he  has  not  received,  v  ^ 

'■■■-'.   ■■,;■  ■.""    •^■- ' :   ■ '   ■  .■■-•  "■  i-    ■■■  ■  -'■.■■;■;■  .■•"■■■' 
Some  passages  from  the«l)eiutiful  tribute  which.. 
Mr.  Campbell  Morgan  paid  td*  his  comrade  in  the 
Life  of  Faith  for  May  9,  1999,  may  conclude  this 
chapter.  "  ^ 


V 


AMERICAN  JOURNEYS 


ai7 


•  '    r 


It  is  difficult  to  write  to-day  of  those  delightful  days  when 
people  *so  hopelessly  mixed  us  u]^  as  to  go  to  him'  for 
explanations  of  what  he  niean^' in  his  address  on  such  a 
subject,  when  it  was  I  whohjld  given  that  address,  or  come 
to/me  to  know  if  1  really  meant  so-and-so,  which  not  I,  but 
he,  had  said  !  We  lived  together,  and  read  together,  and 
rayed  together,  and  spoke  together,  and,  whatever  his 
fiseling,  I  feel  that  one  pf  the  most  delightful  comradeships 
^f  a  lif^titee  ha(d  been  entered  upon. 

He  was  a  great,  joyous  soul,  sitnply  exulting  in  the  actual 
experiences  of  which  he  spoke  to  the  assemblies.  For  him 
indeed  the  life  in '  Christ  was  the  realization  of  all  the 
powers  of  his  being.  His  interest  in  the  affairs  of  men 
everywhere  wras  keen  and  agile.  A  true  saint,  moving  with 
warm,  generous  heart  amid  tJie"  living  realities  of  a  busy 
age,  sympathetic  lirith  the  tenderness  of  a  woman  towards 
all  the  oppressed  a,hd  downtrodden,  loving  the  sinner  with 
a  great  love,  yet  With  a  possibility  of  passion  which  his 
consecration  had  turned  into  wrath  against  all  forms  of  sin  ' 
and  insincerity.  HSs  sense  of  humoyr  and  satire  w^s  keen. 
It  found  its  proper  place  in  his  Conversation  an^Jgieaching 
Never  forced,  it  never  degraded  the  high  calling  to  which 
he  was  dedicated.  It  played  on  his  subject,  rather,  like' 
the  ^summer 'lightning,  clearing  the  atmosphere  and  harm- 
ing'none.  •■;■■  ■"■:-.•  "■•  t  '^■■■.    \  '''.':■     ''   "^-     •.  ' 

T^  greatest  characteristic  arid  greatest  strength  of  his 
public  ministry  was  his  love  for  and  acquaintance  with  his 
Bible.  How  he  Ipved  its  minesj  of  wealth,  aW  with  what 
skill  he  delved  thgrein  and  brought  out  a  constantly  fresh 
supply  of  "  things  new  and  old  "  I 
/  Then  how  generous  he  wasi  to  those  from  whom  he 
differed  1'  Of  this  I- had  practical  experience  once.    It  was 


aiS 


GEOltGE  H.  C.  MACGREGOR 


( 


^ 


during  our  second  year  at  Northfielcl  (1898).    In  one  of.  his 
addresses  he  gave  forcible  expressioli  t.o^  dogmatic  state- 
ment of  doctrine  from  whicli  I  differed  wHoily.    Whflii,  we 
reached  our  place  of  sojourn,  I  "  Werit  for  "  him.  FoK>urs 
we  tallied  the  matter  out,  with  our  Bibles  in  our  hands. 
The  subject  was  one  of  the  old  controversial  centres  of 
theology.    Of  course  neither  of  us  wa»  convinced  4t  the 
last,  but  after  a  time  of  silence  he  looked  up  at  me  and  . 
said, >ith  that  generous,  sincere  smile  of  his :  "I  never  ' 
knew  before  how  much  might  be  said  for  your  view."   Then« 
I  was  almost  persuaded  he  was  altogether  right  I 
,     That  year  we  journeyed  home  together  in  the  good  ship 
Umbria.    Hotv  delightful  the  meinory  of  those  days  amid 
the  deeps  I    One  evening  we  sat  and  watched  the  sun  sink 
^  rest  behind  horizon  clouds.    It  was  a  combination  of 
J'orm  and  colour  not  to  be  pictured  with  the  pen.     He 
looked  upon  it  with  the  glad  wonder  of  a  child  delighting 
in  the  prodigality  with  which  the  Father  flings  a  picture  in,  - 
the  west  for  the  feeding  of  the  sense  of  beauty  in  His^ 
children,  eyeri  though  it  cai^  last  but  for  a  brief  hour. 
Turning  to  me,  he  said  :'"  What  a  blessed  thing  that  God 
takes  us  through  a  change  of  enlarged  possibility  as  we  go 
home  I    I  feel  as  though  this  glory  werefalmost  unbearable.  - 
What  wiliheaven  be  ?  "    Tomay  he  knowi. 


-—.  — +  -  -- 


■  ^\.'\ 


/" 


;jifci8t~-v     <    t'  "'»  *-f  "^""t  ^  ' 


■V,     :  A ,    . 


■  1  J-  ■- 


r.'  t^ 


*  .  /• 


r  I  ' 


'  IN  THE  MISSIONAkY  CAUSE 


;/ 


3. 


IV:- 


>     ■ 


V:-^^' 


«J9 


■■•A--' 


i^: 


^lii^:!^ 


'/ 


if'" 


CHAPTER  XIII 
In  the  Missionary  Cause    ■;  ••.-  '  -•    ■ 

THIS  man,  the  reader  has  long  since  remarked, 
was  a  born  missionary.  He  lived  as  one 
bearing. a  message,  a  man  sent  of  God.  He  had.  a 
deep  sense  also  of  the  oneness  of  God's  work  in  what- 
ever part  of  the  world  it  is  carried  on,  and  he  held 
himself  at  God's  disposal  for  service  anywhere.  The  . 
distinction  between  Home  and  Foreign  Missions, 
though  natural  and  convenient,  may  sometirpM  lead 
us  almost  to  forget  that  it  is  the  same  work;  only 
with  difference  of  place  and  conditions.  With  George , 
Macgregor  the  thought  was  never  absent:  "I  have 
tried  to  look  ^at  myself  merely  as  a  servant  of  God, 
bound  to  do  His  work  wherever  He  wishes  liie  to  do 
it,  whether  in  .  Scotland  or  England  or  America,  or, 
what  is  equally  possible,  in  heathen-  lands  amongst 
those  who  have  not  yet  heard  the  Gospel.  The  place 
where  a  man  works  is  after  all  of  little  consequence." 
That  he  was  not  himself  in  the  foreign  field  might 
almost  be  called  an  accident  His  -first  call  came 
from  there;  but  though  his  heart  responded  to  the 


^* 


T 


'■  / 


.-^•-*- 

:^>. 


^' 


» .  ■ . 


T '"  '^1  i' ,  X'"^  i  ■"* 


I 


/■ 


•aa  GEORGE  H.  C.   MACGREGOR  , 

.call,  the  way  was  barred.  Into  the  work  that  God 
^ave  him  at  home  he  threw  himself  with  full  purpose 
and  joy.  There  was  no  "  longinjf,  lingering  look 
behind  " ;  no  worc^jor  feeling  as  though  he  had  to  be 
content  with  the  second  best.  Yet  all  the  while  the 
needs  of  other  lands  and  other  peoples  had  a  peculiar 
place  in  his  heart  You  could  always  see  how,  had 
the  way  been  open,  he  would  have  made  these  first 

So  he  made  his  ministry  one  |f  the  best  examples 
of  what  those  who  themselves  remain  at  home  may 
do  to  further  the  foreign  missionary  cause.  In  the 
first  place,  as  he  could  #iot  go  himself,  he  tried  to  get 
others  to  go.  It  was  a  line  of  action  which  he  was 
(bnd  of  recommending  to  those  who  found  themselves 
too  old,  or  not  strong  enough  to  go,  or  who  were 
prevented  by  home  or  other  ties.  His  own  influence 
in  this  way  undoubtedly  led  a  considerable  number 
to  give  themselves.  He  had  first  alm^d  at  finding 
seven  such  "substitutes  for  personal  service,"  and; 
when  this  was  attained,  then  seven  more.  An  ambl- 
tion  like  this  knows  no  limit  of  numbers.    ^— 

Associated  as  he  thus  was  with  applicants  for 
missionary  service,  he  was  frequently  consulted  by 
those  who  had  begun  to  cherish  that  sacred  ambition. 
Many  of  his  letters  are  written  in  answer  to  enquiries 
on  this  subject  His  sympathy,  his  own  strong  devo- 
tion, and  his^  sanctified  common-sense  come  out- in  a 
remarkable  way  in  these.    He  was  always  an  ad^- 


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IN  THE  MISSIONARY  ijAUSE  ijj 

able  guMc  to  persons  whc?  found  themselves  In  any 
perplexity,  because  he  would  not  evade  a  difficulty  of 
any  kind.  ^He  insisted^  the  real  issue  being  faced 

^  at  onc9  ;  tempori?ing/or  what  is  called,  letting  people 
down  gently,  which  listen  i  mere  refusal  to  look 

•  facts  m  the  face,  was  absolutcly*.repugnaht  to  him. 
Many  he  counselled,  therefore,  tcj  abide  in4hc  place 

^j^where  they  were  called,  to  find  their  mission  at  home, 
^nd  aid  the  conversion  of  t|ie  nations  not  by  personal 
service,  but  by  gifts  aAd»prayer.  To  those  whose 
way  sciemed  open  to  go  abroad  he  gave  most  helpful 
advice.  And,  mos^  of  all,  his  own  experience  as  a 
student,  ai;id  since  then  as  a  minister,  enabled  him  to 
giv^  speefal  ai^  and  sympapiy  in  the  disappointment 
of  thos6  who  seemed  first  bidden  go  and  then  found 
their  way  barred. 

Thf  letters  that  follow  are  selected  from  a  number. 

The*first  is  addressed  to  a  young  lady  who  enquired 

<  what  she  had  best  read  in  order  to  prepare  herself -for 

.  anWpec^d  call  to  the  mission  field. 

•\ 

II,  Hanover  Terrace, 


NOTTING  Hill,  V?.^ 

May  ij,  iSgSi 


Dear  Miss  - — -, 

Your  question  about  private  study  is  too  big  a  ques 
tion  to  be  rightly  answered  in  a  letter. 

If  you  want  to  study,  I  would  advise  you  to  get  a  book 
on  theology,  like  Dr.  Moule's  OufUws  of  Theology,    It  ia 


3 


/     • 


^-ytj. 


!. 


I 


I 


$H  GEORGE  II.  C.  MACGR^IGOR 


•Imple.  but  comprehensive,  and  (t  ji  a  book  which  can  Iw 
truilcd.     Do  not   hurry  over  it,  but   study  it  carefully. 
Along  with  it,  you  might   take  a  book  like  Dr.  Whyte'i 
ComMtHtary  on  th*  Shorter  Catechism  (T.  &  T.  Clark,  Edin- 
burgh),  which  is  a  remarkable  compendium  of  doctrine 
such  as  the  missionary  is  called  to  impart.     That  book  can 
be  studied  to  great  advantage  for  one's  own  spiritual  life. 
—  Along  wiih  this  doctrinal  study  it  would  be  well  to  com- 
bine  study  of  one  of  the  books  of  the  Dible.     Take  the 
Epistle  to  the  Romans.     Dr.  Moule  has  a  splendid  com- 
mentary on  this  in  the  Expositor's  Blblt.    To  master  that 
book  is  to  have  a^  immense  enrichment  of  one's  know- 
ledge.    Then  the/fepistle  to  the  Ephcsians  should  be  %kVdlf 
up,  or  the  Epis^e  to  the  Hebrews.     The  work  done  shouW 
be  thorough.  ^  Do  not  hurry  with  it.    Besides  this,  you 
should  do  a  lot  of  work  with  your  concor<iance,.    If  you 
have  not  got  a  good  coniordance,  you  should  aim  at 
getting  one  as  soon  as  possible.    The  best  to  get  is  Strong's 
Exhaustive  Concordance.      It  is  an   expensive  work,  but 
money  spent  on  a  good  concordance  is  well  invested.     If 
you  have  Cruden,  it  will  serve  well,  but  Strong  is  better. 
Having  got  your  concordance,  go  to  work  to  see  all  that 
the  Bible  has  to  say  about  Sacrifice,  or  the  Blood,  or 
I  Service.    This  will  give  you  a  hold  of  your  Bible,  which  is 
the  great  thing  all  workers  for  God  have  to  aim  at.    More 
than  this  I  cannot  say  at  present 

Yours  very  truly,  *^ 

'^  G.  H,  C.  Macgrecor. 

•  ■      ,.    .        . 

_    8*>t  theTiappy  prospect  of  thus  serving  in  other 
lands  was  not  to  be  realized,  and  the  letters  that 


•    IN  THE   MISSIONARY  CAUSB  ti, 

follow  show  with  what  wisdom  and  emphasis  hli 
counsel  was  given.  First,  let  the  servant  wait  untif 
the  Master's  wit!  Is  fully  declared,  but  be  as  ready 
and  content,  if  His  will  should  be  so.  to  have  thin 
service  refused  as  ta  have  it  accepted.  When  He 
refuses  us  our  own  wish,  does  He  not  gly^  what  k 


teally  better  for  M»r^nd  He  feogriIsM  thTwfiHnf 
ness  to  offer.    "T^u  didst  well  that  it  was  in  Thine 


heart.' 


r 


^      I         II.  IIanovkr  Tkrrace,  \V.j 
Dear  Mill—,  i^^^«/-Vr  aj.  ,898 

In  this  difficulty  which  you  have  about  being  willing 
not  to  go  to  the  foreign  field,  and  being  able  even   to 
rejoice  in  being  kept  at  home  if  that  be  the  will  of  God,  I 
think  there  is  one  thing  that  you  forget.    The  only  place 
where  the  true  Christian  can  be  happy  is  where  the  Master 
w.     But  if  God  does  not  wish  you  to  go  to  the  foreign 
field,  and  you  went,  He  would  not  be  with  you.    Your 
desire  to  go  would  th|p  be  a  desire  to  get  away  from  God 
And  that  is  not  a  desire  that  you  really  can  have.     Re- 
member, too,  that  there  is  no  field  foreign  to  God.    To  be 
where  He  is  must  be  our  desire,  and  that  will  be  where  He 
places  us.    You  must  not  allow  the  devil  to  jvorry^you 
about  this  matter.    It  is  probable  that  the  I^rd  will  give 
you  the  desire  of  your  heart  in  this  matter.     Meantime 
seek  for  grace  to  rest  in  the  Lord. 

•  Yours  in  great  haste, 


>■ 


'^. 


^ffr 


^:l 


■«'•'. 


226  GEORGE  H.   C.   MACGREGOIt 

Hj  Hanover  Terrace,    ' 
January  S,  1899. 
I  am  sorry  to  hear  that  your  hope  of  serving  the  Master' 
in  the  foreign  field  has  been  crushed.     It  means  that  you 
are  to  be  a  missionary  worker  and  helper  instead  of  a 
missionary.    Begin  to  work  at  once  'to  get  at  least  seven 
out  in  your  place.      Do  not  fret  that  you  cannot  go. 
Accept  it  as  God's  will,  and  let  your  desire  for  the  blessing 
of  the  heathen  lead  you  to  work  for  theih  at  home.    Re» 
member  what  I  once  said  tp  you.    You  want  to  be  with 
God.    But  God  is  where  His  wilt  for  yoit  is. 

Vours  very  tilll)^ 

George'H.  C.  Macgregor. 

■.'■-■.■■'■  ^ 

Here  again  are  letters  to  one  for  whom  the  way 
was  open,  and  who  is  now  in  the  English  Presbyterian 

Church's  Mission  at  Amoy.  ^       ^# 

.  ■     >      •-  ' .  .■  .      '   '    .■*,'<•■  '  ■' 

.-.■.';:     ,>■■'■  ■■•.'■■■      :  -  ■  ■ 

"*■?'■ 

.      *-x.  7.  Thornhill  Gardens, 

Sunderland,  ^^ 

*-•  February  io^  1898. 

Mv  DEAR  Miss  Usher, 

I  have  just  heard  from  my  wife  that  on  Tuesday  at  the 
committiee  you  were  formally  accepted  for.  our  work  in 
China  J  am  w/y  glad,  and  since  I  have  heard  it  I  have 
been  praying  for  you  that  yqu  may  be  in  ^  special  way 
filled  with  the  Spirit  of  God.  I  want  to  write  you  this  that 
you  may  know  I  do  not  forget  about  you.  I  want  for  you 
as  a  missionary  nothing  short  of  the  best  God  gives  to  His 
children.  May  He  fill  you  with  a  passion  for  the  souls  of 
men,  begotten  in  you  by  the  compassion  of  Christ.  ^ 


•■•^ 


IN  THE  MISSIONARY   CAUSE 


337 


ACE,     '  .-           -       1 

,  1899.             i 

le  Master' 

that  you             ) 

sad  of  a  y.      | 

ast  seven       \*  *J 

nnot  go.            -^ 

;  blessing   '        ] 

me.    Re*          '  i 

be  with^     ^   ^ 

I  hope  that  this  new  step  forward  will  mean  to  you  new 
■    blessing. 

We  are  having  wonderful  meetings  here.     God  has  dis- 
pelled our  fears  and  is  working  with  great  power. 
With  kindest  regards, 
Yours  very  truly, 

George  H.  C.  Macgregor. 

.^  _  __  :^'T"^~^7     December  ift^  1898. 

This  letter  is  far  too  late  to  reach  you  for.  Christmas,  but 
it  will  show  you  that  when  I  was  writing  other  Christmas 
letters  you  were  not  forgotten.  Indeed  you  may  be  quite 
sure  you  will  not  be  forgotten.  We  have  pledged  to  keep 
you  remembered  in  the  Christian  Endeavour,  and  I  do 
not  think  there  is  a  week  when  you  are  not  prayed  for; 

By  this  time  you  wHl  have  reached  your  new  home,  and 
will  be  getting  settled  down.  It  must,  I  am  sure,  seem 
very  strange.  I  often  wish  tlfat  I  had  gone  through  it, 
that  I  might  know  how  missionaries  feel  when  they  reach 
the  land  in  which  they  are  to  work.  I  ato  sure  there  must 
have  been  a  little  homesickness  as  you  neared  China,  but 
the  sense  of  being  one  of  His  witnesses  would  also  be  very 
strong.  I  do  trust  that  you**  will  always  enjoy  the  sense  of 
the  Divine  presence  in  your  work. 

I  know  that  there  is  a  great  deal  in  work  in  heathen 
lands  to  draw  one  away  from  God.  But  there  must  be 
much  tdcjrivie  one  back  on  God.  I  remember  Mr.  Gibson, 
of  Swatow;l8aying  to  me  that  the  sense  of  one's  own  power' 
lessness  as  one  faced  a  Clfinese  audience  made  the  Spirit 
of  G<)d  a  great  reality.  He  said  he  never  felt  the  presence 
of  the  Spirit  so  mighty  as  in  the  presence  of  the  heathen. 
I  do  not  suppose  it  is  needful  to  give  you  the  Cyj|ch 


i. 


■>-■-: 


I 

1 1 


h. 


aii 


GEORGE  H.  C.  J^AGGREGOR 


news.    This  you  get  from  the  Christian  Endeavouren.  . 

Now  I  must  stop.  This  is  merely  to  wish  you  every 
blessing  that  a  loving  Father  can  bestow  on  you.  '  We 
shall  be  always  praying  for  you,  that  you  may  make  rapid 
progress  with  the  language,  and  be  soon  ready  for  the  work 
of  making  known  the  Gospel  to  those  around  ypu. 
With  every  good  wish, 

;'     Yours  very  trulyi 

—       ^  ^"  -  GEdlUJE  H/  e.    MACGREGOiR. 


Both  in  Aberdeen  and  If|PPp^^he  rtiissionary  giv- 
ings  <rf  Mr.  Macgregor's  congregations  were  greatly 
increased  under  his  ministry.  "  He  roused  the*  con- 
gregation," says  Ur.  Ogilvie,  of  the  East  Churcji^ 
"to  a  much  warmer  interest,and  soon  succeeded  in 
doubling  their  contributions  to  the  foreign  field." 
At  Netting  Hill  the  sums  contributed,  by  ricfi  and 
jpoor  alike,  were  still  more  fem^kable,  and  in  the 
month  of  Mr.  Macgregor's  death  the  freewill  x  offer- 
iAgs,  for  the  Women's  and  Jewish  Mission  only, 
amounted  to  no  less  than  ;^500.  But  of  greater  im- 
portance than  the  mere  sums  contributed  wias  the 
kindling  of  interest  in  the  divine  enterprise  of  mis- 
sions, and  the  awakening  of  the  spirit  of  prayer. 

The  method  on  which  Mr.  Macgregcw  worked  for 
this  all-important  end  is  set  ibrth  in  a  tiny  penny 
booklet  which  he  published  in  18198,  entitled;  The 
Supreme  Need  in  Mission  Work:  a  Solemn  M^sage 
to  the  Church  of  Christ    it  wa^  issued  as  one  of  their 


'   '^1 


.:,L....,4- 


i^^y^m  ' 


.,  i , 


IN  THE  MISSIONARY  CAUSE  929 

Ixwklets  by  the  Soil^  Africa  General  MissTon,  of 
which  Mr.  Arthur  Mercer,  Wimbledon,  is  the  >§ecre- 
tar3|^nd  some  thousands  of  copie^hajp  been  circu- 
lated. But  it  ought  to  be  disseminated  fai'  more 
widely,  for,  well  as  he  has, done  many  things,  he 
never  did  anything  better  than  these  few  small  pages, 
and  the  thoughts  and  considerations  which  'he  ad- 
dresses ought  to  be  pondered  by  evpry  Christian 
heart. 

With  his  usual  directness  he  goes  to  his  point  at 
once.  . 

Throughout  the  whole  missionary  world  there  is  at 
present  a  very  deep  sense  of  need.  .  .  .  From  every 
mission  land  the  cry'  of  the  missionaries  comes  to  our  ears. 
And  what  do  they  er^  for?  Not  men,  liot  money,  but 
prayer.  Even  above  the  urgent  cry,  "Come  over  and  help 
us,"  and  God  knows  they  have  enough  reason  to  utter  that 
cry,  we  hear  the  words,  "  Brethren,  pray  for  us."  ^ 

In  this  deepened  sense  of  the  need  of  prayer,  which^is 
noticeable  on  every  side^  we  have  a  token  that  the  Church 
is  entering  into  full  sympathy  with  her  Lord.  For  the 
Lord  has  all  along  told  us  that  the  supreme  need  of  mis- 
sionary work  is  grayer.  In  His  first  utterance  on  the' 
subject  He  made  this  plain.  "When  He  saw  the  multi- 
tudes, He  was  moved  with  compassion  for  them,  because 
they  fainted,  and  were  scattered  about  as  sheep  having  no 
shepherd.  Then  saith  He  unto  His  disciples,  the  harvest 
fiPiily  is  plenteous,  but  the  labourers  are  few.  Pray  ye 
therefore."  Before  "Go,"  before  "Give,"  comes  "Pray." 
This  is  th#^Divine  order,  and  any  attempt  to  alter  it  will 


J 


U 


.  V  - 


.•.-■.,». 


-H 


I  :; 


t 


"\ 


4*6  GEORGE  H.  a  MACGREGQR 

end  in  disastcfi  Rrayer  is  to  missionary,  work  wh^t  aiPvw 
to  the  body-f  the  element  in  which  it  lives.  .Missions  were 
borrr  in  prayer,  ani  cah  only  live  in  tl^e  ^atmosphere  of.  ' 
prayer.  TAe  very  fir^  Buty  of  a  Church  in  organmng  its 
'"^foreign  missionary  work  is  to  awakin,  maintain^  and^  sustain 
^inits  members  the  spirit  of  prayeTy    '  «    • 

The  Reasons  vihy  Praytr  should  btPre-tminent  and 
•.    the  'Character  of  the  Prayer  Needed  wee  the  two  topic? 
whith  ?ire,  briefly  expounded.    Prayer  must  be  put  ' 
foremost,  especially  for  this  reason,  that  it  puts  God 
first,  arid  keteps  men  constantly  in  mind  that  this  is 
His  work,  and  only  theirs  as  His  instruments. '  How  , 
true,  is  this  remark^  of  every  form  of  church  wor]|c 
nowadays,   with    the    orgaiiization    and    machinery V 
necessary,  and  tl^e  dangfer  of  sometimes  losing  sight ; - 
of  the  s'piribal  pfiirpose  of  it  all :  "  The  cariyi)ig"on 
of  a  mission  involves  so  many  business^  details  tna,t\ 
, unless  the  Ghurqji  is^  simply  full  of  prayer  meh^wHl"' 
.  be  tempted  to  forget- God,  and,  will  try  to  do  God'§  , 
work  in  their  own  ^^^y."    Again*  "in  the  evangeliza-^ 
tion  <3f  the'world,  the  missioipry  prayer  meetih|r' is  a 
greater  forcev  than  th<  missionary 'public  meeting.^ 
As  he  said  in  another  tbnriection^it  is  always  ipqre 
important  to  get  the  eart)f  God  for  man  tjian  jtorget 
the  ear  of  man  for  God.      On  the  kind  oi  ^x^t^ 
needed,  the  Author  ipeaks  with  his  usual  pungency. 
He  sets  down  first  thaf  prayer  mu^t  be  intelligept 
,^nd  base4  on  knowledge.    "  Many  piray  f 


I.     ■*; 


•/         •' 


«^™?;:rgr 


'^•■^ 


\  . 


I>-*.' 


■■  ^v    .   -.  .i 

i^t  aiMs             I 

ons  were 

jhere  of-  * 

wing  its    ■■:  '    1 

li.  sustain            J 

o  topics '       ^ ; 

be  put  '   o  ■,';% 

iits  God           .  * 

t  this  is       'M 

, '  How  V 

:h  worH         V; 

ichineiy*^/,  ,;;':; J 

ng«^ht;Y>V;l 

aUs''ti&t\;^'r'-;-] 

neh  will           .1 

lo  God'§  ,y  T  "^ 

ingeliza-/          | 

;tih|:'isa;;  .■■■■;.■>. J 

neetingv        /■  1 

lys-t^qre  ,.':■■.  *| 

injtorget-     ^^.-l 

f.  pHra)!^^;,/'^:   -:'| 

ungency.            1 

telligept          .J 

missions-,'"'"'":  "4 

1      •               -^ 

•■*.-"''^'  ^M  vw'-^ 

''■?  :   '^  i'-v  ■■  .^ 

^ 


IN  THE  MISSIONARY  CAUSE         '  aji 

■     ,  '     •■."■■      •-  ■  \ 

'whose  prayers  are  practically  valuelessl^  bemuse  of 

their  ignorahce."  *  If*,  praying  and  working  are  really 

^     to  co-of^rate,  then  the  man  who  prays  at  home  must 

/^at  Ipast  kQpwwhat  the  man  out  in  the  mission  field 

a  doing.     The  knowledge 'needed  is  twbfold.     It 

'must  be  knowledge  of  missionary  prmfciples,  that,  is, 

.^knowledgecrf  what  Go4,  Wishes  t'6  be  done;  and  know- 

t:      Jedge  of  missionary  facts,  that  is,  of  wh?it  God  is 

'(a^tudUy"  doing.     Anc^  thi^intelligent  prayirtg  must  ^ 

•     - alsQ  be'  definite^  and  intense)  a  veritable  .labouring  \t\ 

;     '^  No  subject,  during  the  la§t  years  of  his  life,  was 

moreiijt^ensely  on  Mr. Macgregor'shearttharithis.  He  . 

\       yiffotfi  artd  ^poke  of  it  very  frequently.    I'o  his  vener- 

;,.  ^  abl?  friend:  fhe  Rev.  David  Paton,  he  writes  in  May, 

.18981  "  I  send  you  a  copy*  of  a  little  booklet  that  I 

'  '.  h^ye  published  carting','attention  to  ihe,pre-emihence 

--S)f#!  player  in  thd  mitten        missioi^.     t  feel  that 

^everything  for  the,  success  of  this  work  turns  upon  the 

prayerfuhiess  of  the  Church  that  is  carrying  on  the 

,     work.    I  think"  you  will,  agree  with  the  thought  of  the. ' 

*  -  little  boojc."   .During  his  last  mission  in  Edinburgh, 

,i*he  siwicp  to.  nje,''  write$lDr  Wilson,  "of  believing 
.    that  he  had  important  service  to  do  for  the  Churfch  in. 

*  the  .department  of  Foreign  Missions.     He  thought  it 
I*, /had  been  inade  too  much  a  matter  6f  money,  and' 

nrakmg  app^^^^        the  pieople  for  funds.     He  would, 
Jn  the  first  instante,,le_aye  that  out,  of  sight,  and  rath^ 


•Iff. 


y 


■\ 


\(^: 


L 


in 


f, 


>-^«,-' 


«5a  ;       i  9^^ 

press  hbme  to  Christian  people  the  rcsponsibUity  of 
caring  for  ^  perishing  world,  awakening  and  en- 
U^tcning  their  consciences,  increasing  theif  know- 
ledge, and  so  their  interest,  and,. especially,  calling/^ 

them  to  prayer."  ^         - 

The  same  considerations  he  brought  ()efc^re  the 
synod  of  his  own  Church,  the  Presbyterian  Chiirch  of 
England,  at  Its  meeting  at  Liverpool  in  Aprilr^SpJ^  7 
The  interesting  Foreign  Missions  of  that  Church,  i^' 
China,  Formosa;  and  Upper  Bengal,  associatecl  with  ' 
William   Bums    and  other   honolired  named, ^  were 
faced  by  a  necessity  for  enlargement  "  The  committee 
of  r^irection  were  anxious  for  a  new  departure.     Mr. 
Macgregor   gave  an  address  which  made  a  strong 
impression,  urging,  as  is  done  in  jie  little  bpoklet,  the 
paramount  necessity  of  prayer.     Hi^  proposal  was 
that  certain  men  should  be  set  a^rt  to  devote  a 
specified  4mount  of  time  during  the  next  twelve 
months  to  visiting  the  con^RgMions  of  the  Church, 
setting  before  them-  very  earnestly  the  needs  o(  the 
heathen  world,  and  beseeching  them  to  come,  by 
prayer  and  effort,  to  the  help  of  the  Lord.    As 
always,  he  was  fearful  lest  this  should  be  looked  uport " 
as  a  mere    whipping-up  .of  subscriptions,  and   he 
pleaded  that  the  deputies  sh©uld,  so  farjas  possible, 
not  so  much  as  mention  money.    Overwhelmed  as 
he  was  with  other  work,  he  yet  willingly  cohsented, 
at  the  request  of  the  Foreign  Mission  conunittee,  to 


>• 


!;; 


^^!^ 


1 


IN  THE  MISSIONAkV  CAUSE 


•33 


-J    if 


be  himself  one  of  this  uniqiie  deputation— men  sent 
forth  to  ask,  not  for  a  larger  missionary  revenue,  but 
for  an  increased  concert  of  prayer.  With  him  were 
associated  such  men  as  the  Rev.  William  Watson,  of 
Birkenhead,  the  iRev.  J,  G.  Train,  of  Norwood,  anc^ 
the  Rev.  Alexander  Gregory,  himself  sometime  a 
missionary  at  Amoy,  besides  several  devout  and 
like-minded  elders.  Some  fruit  of  their  labpur  ap- 
peared forthwith,  and  some  is  appearing  still. 

It  was  in  his  own  church,  tooj  t^rr  he  specially 
laboured  in  connection  with  th'at  other  c'auseV  which 
for  many  possesses  a  certain  sacred  interest  above 
Jny  pther  form  of  missionary  work,  the  Mission  to 
the  Jews.     •  His  interest  in  this    cause  was  eajjy 
awakened,  and  doubtless  was  increased  when,  as  ^ 
student,  he  was  associated  -with  DV.  J.  H*  Wilson, 
who  for  inany  years  has  been  a  leader  in  tfie  Jewish 
.  mi'^sions  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland.     But  it 
was  riot  till  he  came  to  London  that  he  was  brought 
.^  into' personal  relation  with  the  work. .  The  Church  to 
,  which  he  jministered  there  had  been  the  Church 'of 
Adolph  Saphir.    .  There,  Sunday  by  Sunday,  iintil  %* 
very  near  the  end  bf  his  long  pilgrimage,  might  be 
V,  seen  in  his  place  the  venerable   form  of  the  Rev 
"*  William' Wingate.  .  Other  artd  not  less  warm  friends 
of  Israel  surroui^ded  him,  and  through  some  of  these 
he  was  brought  into  actual  contact  with  the  exter^sive 
work  among  Jews  in  the' east  of  London.    A  year 


.# 


.-> 


/ 


# 


,   I  ■ 


■^ 


I 


^34 


GiORQE  H.  C.  MAdOREGOR 


before  his  death  he  had  been  appointed  joint-con-     ' 
vfcner  of  the 'Jewish  Mission  of  his  Church,  and  with 
characteristic  energy  he  threw  himself  ioto  the  task 
of  reviving  and  deepening  the  Church's  interest  in  it  -. 
Here,  as  in  the  case  of  Foreign  Missions,  he  insisted 
on  the  importance  of  securing  a  living  interest,  and 
especially  prayer,,  befor^  any  appeal  was  »nad«  /©r  '_ 
money.      He    addressed    a  brotherly    and  solemn 

""request  to  evlry  minister  of  the  Church,  begging  him 
to  preach  a  social  sermon  on  the  matter  on  the,  day 
appointed  for  the  Jewish  collection.-  Amid  the^res^ 
sure  of  so  many  other  duties,  he, fWd»  time  to  go 
down  and  take  part  in  the  work -<JrM/.  Polaij|jjjthe 

.  Presbyterian  Church's  missionjary  in  NWhitechapel. 
He  induced  some  of  his  devoted  lady\wprkers  to 
giv^  aid  in  minisf^ring  to. the  Hebrew  women,  and 
even  to  study  the  strange  Yidditti  tongue  ia  order  that 
their  usefulness  might  be  increased.  Xowarda  the 
close  of  last  winter  he  had  the  great  happiness  of 
baptizing  a  convert  of  the  Mission  in  his  church  at 

l^otting  Hill.  '^      \  .  • 

^'joyfully  greeting  thi^as  a  firstfruits  of  new  work,  \ 
Tie  was  pressing  forward,  full  of  plans  and  project^  ' 
for  the  future.when/suddenly  he  was  not,for'God* 
took  him.    During  his  last  illness  it  was  affectingly 
shown  \ow  deeply  the  cause  of  God's  ancient  people 
was  in  his  heA    "  His  thoughts  and  prayers,"  says 
his  physician, "  ^s  far  as  we  could  Wake  them  out. 


V 


%■ 


\ 


1 


!■»     •  • 


Ur       , 


Il!J  THE  MISSIONARY  CAUSE  *3t 

seemed'  all  to  be  for  his  beloved  people,  and  t%t 
Jewsr  '    .•;.  -:       ■,   !  ■;  ''  ■.■     ■' 

.     But  while  thus  giving  of  his  best  in  time  and 
strength  to, those  missions  of  his  own  Church,  which 
h^  felt  had  the  strongest  claim  upon  him,  he  was 
,  never  ii(nited  or  denoniinational  in  his  sympathies. 
He  was  warmly  interested  in  the  work  of  theSfudent 
'  Volunteer  Missionary  Union,  and  took  parTtoth  hrj 
the  Li^pool  Conference  of  1896,  and  the  London 
Conference  of  1900.    He  was  president  for  a  year  of 
the  Young  Christians'  Missionarj^Union,  when  his 
wide  kiiowledgeof  missions,  his  buSness  habits,  and, 
abov^-  all,  his  splendid  enthusiasm,  were  of  the  greatest 
service,  and  helped  to  stir  up  many.    A  brief  letter 
which  he  addressed  to  the  members  in  May,  1899, 
may  dose  this  chapter.    It  puts,  in  his  terse  memor- 
able way,  some  thoughts  thajt  l«iy  at  the  root  of  his 

lite'-,-  ■■'-  '   . '■'  ■■'■-'■       .■"■  '    " 

V  'The  Message  of  the  MbNTH.        - 

1,  /^Jb  the  Members  ef  the  Vniffus^  ^ 

•  'l  am  a  debtor," said  the  great  Apostle,  "to  the  Greeks 
ahdtothebarbajians,  .  ..  so  as  much  as  in  me  is  J 
am  r^ady  to  preach^  the  gospel''  Here  Paul  reminds  us  of 
the  duty  that  lies  upon  us  to  make  the  Gospel  known  to 
th6se\ho  have  It  not  In  receiving  the  Gospel,  we  have 
also  received  the  command  to  make  it  knowiyjBy  being 
receivers  we  have  become  debtors.  We  tddSmm  Gospel 
notior  oureelves  alone,  but  for  others.  1  We  are  stew^ds. 
'    irusitees  j  there^fore  k  woe^  restson  us  if  we  preach  it  not 


\ ' ''  ■ 


itfe.  • 


M 


\/- 


?; 


•I« 


J 


GEORGE  H.  C  MACGREGOR 


»«S; 


ri%''. 


V 


The  measure  of  our  obligation  to  take  part  in  the  great 
missionary  campaign  is  the  measure  of  the  blessing  we 
have  received  through  the  Gospel.  To  whom,  much  is 
givent  of  him  -shall  much  he  required.  The  fdct  that  we  in 
England  owe  everything  we  possess  to  the  Gospel  is  what 
makes  the  obligation  resting  on  us  so  strict.  And  this  ob- 
ligation we  ,can  discharge,  this  debt  we  can  pay,  only  in 
two  ways.     We  can  pay  it  either  by  personal  service,  or  by 

TSonAl  sacrifice  that  others  may  serve.  We  must  either 
pi-each  the  Gospel  to  the  heathen -ourselves,  or  we  must  give 
tim)^  and  strength,  arftt  thought  and  money,  that  others 
maybe  seiit  to' preacH.  Paul  paid  his  debt  in  both  these 
ways.  \Let  me  asfc  you,  dear  friends, -How  are  you  going  to 
payyoui^?  ,It  it  to  be  in  ^hew&y  of  personal  service  in 
.the  field?  How  many  of  ybu  to  whom  this  message  will 
come  have' already  laid  your  lives  a.t  the  Master's  feet  for 
this  purpose?  Or  is  it  to  be  in  the  way  of  personal  sacri- 
fice? In  whatever  w«r  ii  be,  see  that  it  be  "Im  as  /nuchas 
in  you  is."  Then  in  the  day  of  the  twrvest  yours  wiU  be  ^ 
glad  reward.  ',        •  §,• 

Yoyrs  in  best  bonds, 

G.  H.  C.  Macgregor. 


-ss — m~ 


«     . 


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^BELOVED,  YIELD  THY  TIME 
^        to  GOI> 


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':^:. 


CHAPTER  Xy 


^vcd,*yicw  thy  Time  to  Xio^ 


"Nicht  itach  der  Ruhe  lehne  icb  mich,  aber 
itch  der  Stille."— /fiVAorrf  Rothi./ 


I 


/■ 


rX'^E  spectftcfe  of  constant  and  unremitting 
JL  labour  whicli  these  London  years  afTord  is  an 
Impressive  one.  Every  minister  in  a  great  city  is 
forced  to  work  hard,  but  those  who  had  seen  many 
hard  workers  confessed  that  they  had  hardly  known 
one  like  him.  He  seemed  to  do  the  work  of  several 
men  at  once.  His  pastorate  would  have  been  suffi- 
cient of  itself  for  most  men ;  but  in  his  case  there 
was  added  the  host  of  conventions  and  other  meet- 

yings  which  he  attended  in  London  and  all  over  the 

/  country:  his  authorship,  for,  though  he  produced  no 
large  book,  his  small  books  and  numerous  sermons 
and  addresses  were  no  inconsiderable  contribution 

tifrom  a  ministry  so  brief:  and,  in  the  last  years 
especially,  the  time    and  labour  expended  in   the 

-missionary  cause.  Many  of  his  friends  felt  that  he 
undertook    too    much,    and    frankly  told    him    so. 


.%. 


./  :' 


W, 


i    ■■»; 


a4Q  GEORGE  H.  C  MACGREGOR 

Whether  he  was  justified  In  cbntinuing  as  he  did, 
despite  such  remonstrance,  is  a  question  which  must 
be  asked  and  answered  presently.      It  was  certain 
that  he  did  it  all  with  his  whole  heart,  and  with  the 
"delight  of  a  strong  man  rejoicing   to  run  a   race. 
Moreover,  he  seemed  to  thrive  through  it  all,  and  his 
vigour  to  increase  with  the  demands  upon  it 
■    One  cannot  but  regard  his  splendid  industry  as 
an  example  for  many  of  us  his  brother  ministers. 
Many  of  us,  though  forced  by  the  pressure  of  duty 
to  work  hard,  are  really  indolent,  and  work  accord- 
ingly by  fits  and  starts,%lternating  activity  and  semi- 
idling,  excusing  the  idle*  intervals,  on  the  plea  that 
they  are  the  necessary  reaction  following  after  hard 
work.    A  witty  speaker  once  said  that  instead  of  the 
often  feigned  humility  which  laments  «  my  leanness, 
my  leanness!"  it  would  be  more  candid  if  so^e 
would  exclaim,  "  my  laziness,  my  laziness  1"    Others^^ 
fully  enough  occupied,  are  not  skilful  to  choose  the 
right  kind  of -work,  and  resign  themselves  to  a  kind 
of  busy  trifling,  suffering  their  time  to  be  frittered 
away  and  wasted  in  a  multitude  of.  petty  engage- 
ments.   From  both  of  these  weaknesses,  which  laj% 
wait  for  many  excellent  ministers,  George  Macgregor 
was  singularly  free.  .  We  have  seen  him  from  the 
beginning  of  his  college  course,  ever  the  strenuous- 
and  earnest  student.     Qualis  0^Jncepto.     Incessant 
'■    industry,  and  that  industry,  ever  well  directed  and 


«»;. 


BELOVED,  YIELD  THY  TIME  TO  GOD  ,241 

"  •*■'"•  .        •    *         .■-.■■  '■ 

profitably  apQl^>*ha4  become  the  very  law  of  his 

being::   ,^-j,['  '■- ,'     >. '      :"  '  V  \-  '  ■^■.■ 

Me  was  a.  singularly  rapid  worker,  and  no  doubt 
produced  much  of  his  wtfrk  with  an  enviable  ease. 
But  he  did  not   presume  upon  this  gift,  as  some 
men  gifted  as  he  was  may  be  tempted  to  do.     Al- 
though he  could  do  a  great  deal  in  ja  short  time,  he 
did  not  therefore  content  himself  with  short  hours. 
His.  nature  was,  indeed,  a  curious  blending  of  gifts 
generally    associated  with   entirely  different  types. 
With  his  Celtic  fire  and  dash  he  combined  a  patience 
and  a  power  of  dogged  persistence  that  seem  rather 
to  belong  to  the  most  phlegmatic  Anglo-Saxon  type. 
He  was  in  the  habit  of  working  as  many  hours  as  if, 
instead  of  being  an  unusually  swift  ^^rorker,  he  had 
been  an  exceptionally  slow  one.     Unite  such  quick- 
ness as  his  with  such  untiring  and  unremitting  in- 
dustry, and  there  are  hardly  any  limits  to  what  a 
man  may  do. 


.i 
^ 


This,  no  doubit,  explains  much,  but  even  after  one 
has  noted  and  made  full  allowance  for  it,  the  output 
ol  those  years  is  stilt  veiy  striking.  How  did  he  do  . 
it?  His  great  strength  and  fine  constitution  were  a 
splendid  foundation.  Then  there  was  that  peculiar 
energy  with  which  he  was  endowed,  a  kind  of  i^^us 
m;^-^;*'  that  bore  him  along  and  swept  obstacles  out  of 
his  way.    With  most  men,  after  working  for  a  certain 


:  1 


v; 


■.    ,«,^J*S!i:' 


Wr^ 


242 


GEORGE  H.   C.  MACGREGOR 


.  time,  the  mind  loses  its  edge,  an  indication  that  it  is 
tinie  for  a  change  of  occupatfon,  and  for  something 
less  taxing.  His  mind  was  unusually  keen  and  un-l 
tiring,  and  seemed  scarcely  to  feel  this.  Butrmore 
than  almost  anything,  he  was  aided  by  his  remark- 
able  habits  of  method  and  order.  His  was  emphati- 
cally a  businesslike  mind,  and  he  bad  a  businesslike 
way  of  doing  eveiVthing.  fie  acted  throughout  on 
the  Duke  of  Wellington's  famous  rule,  to  aim  at 
always  doing  the  day's  work  within  the  day.  This 
punctuality,  and  having  <me's  work  wrell  in  hand,  is 
the  seci-et  of  avoiding  arrears.    George  Macgregor's  ' 

^^l^ork  was  always  ready  to.  time,  and  every  detail  in 
''"'^der.-   His  business  capacity  showed  itself  not  only 
'in  the  study^  but  jn  the  committee^room  or  in  any 
sort  of  consultation. ^    "As  a  clh|iirman,"  writes  a 
w^m  admirer,  "he  was  splendid!    ICieen,  business- 
like, clear-l^eaded,  with  a  firm  hold  on  the  reins  and 
a  good  grasp  of  the  situation,  it  was  exhilarating  to 
be  nekr  him.'*  ■;:-  '.:;  v^^-" '  ^^:- /y^e  '■■'■  ;  ■ 'l^  ;:.■■  ■;  ' 
Like  all  men  possessed  of  this  peculiar  grip  and 
mastery  of  details,  he  had  a  great  power  of  utiiizing 
the   odd    momients.      Thus  he   had  no  lost  time. 
Many  of  the  brief  intervals  that  come  in  each  day's 
work  he  made  use  of  for  prayer.    But  when  oppor- 
tunity  served,  he  knew  how  to  combine  praying  and 
working.     His  long  railway  journeys  to  every  part 
_  of  England  were  carefully  turned  to  account.    On^ 


I 


BELOVED,  YIELD  THY  TIME  TO  GOD  243^ 

these  his  Greek  Testament  was'his  great  companion^ 
and  much  of  his  remarkable  familiarity  with  the 
original  text  of  the  New\ Testament  was  due  to  these 
long  and  frequently  solitary  journeys.  Yet  he  was 
no  recluse  who  was  unhappy  if  he  could  not  be 
alone  with  li|p  books/  On  the  contrary,  he  was  the 
brightest  of  companions,  and  ever  ready^  to  lay  aside 
his  own  occupation  in  order  to  make  a  long  journey 
pleasant  and  interesting  to  his  fellow-travellers. 
This  he  would  do  not  less  readily  for  a  young 
stranger,  but  just  introduced  to  him,  than  for  an  old 
friend.  A  young  South  African  lady,  now  with  God, 
who  receiyed  great  blessing  at  Keswickf'  used  to 
speak  as  if  the  blessing  began  on  the  journey  from 
London,  when  she  travelled  with  Mr.  Macgregor. 
,  What  was  the  secret  of  a  Mfe  so  intense  and  yet 
so. easy?  The  exd|ify:ion  was  simple.  •  He  had 
consecrated  himself  Uppfl  that  he  had  tlBlL^  His 
time  was  God's,  and  hence  alike  the  unspflHlf^  in- 
dustry with  which  he  improved  every  rtioraent  when 
he  was  left  to  himselfpand  the  cordial,  ungrudging 
way  in  which  he  wbula  lay  aside  his  own*  plan  and 
put  his  precious  time  tOsan  entirely  different  use  if 
it  would  help  another.  A  man's  dealing  with  inter- 
ruptions is  often  a  practical  test  of  his  religion;  To 
one  of  student  habits  any  inroad  on  the  hours  of 
study  is  trying,  especially  if  the  calls  or  interruptions 
are  of  a^trivlal  kind.    A  stern  nature,  with  a  deep 


7" 


/.  ■  „, 


■\~-~^- .--' 


.A^„ 


»44\  GKOkGE  H    e  MACCiREG^^ 

scnw  *if  rcs^ponsibility/  and  ^^        for  the  right 
improvement  of  every  moment, . may  be  verV  intolert^^ 
ant  of  anything   that  seems    to  filch    arty  of   his 
Master's  time.    .But  George  Macgregor  regarded  the 
matter  from  a  higher  point  of  view^  still.     He  had   ^ 
,  yielded  up  his  time,  .with  everything- else   that  he  , 
had,  to  God.    The  best  way  "in  which  his  days  and 
hours  couljU«>^sed  was  Cfed'^v^^^^    I^t*  this  use 
of  it  heTmade  his  own  plans  ih  the  first,  place,  and 
was  pfepared  to  carry  them  out  if  nothing  prevented 
it.      But  how  could  he  £ell  whethj?r  any  of  those 
Icnocks  at  his  study  door  might  not  bring  a  call  from 
God  to  some  bet^r  employment ;  and  if^  the  errand 
of  his  visitor  should  prove  to  be  of  ^  great  conse-  ,   , 
queflce,  might 'it  -not  be  sent  for  th^rying  of  his 
patience,  or  that  he  might  give  the  stranger  a  word     ^ 
of  cheer?    Therefore  he  was  not  ruffled  or  disturbed.   -  . 
Ptessed  as  he  was  with   an  oft^  well-nigh  over-    , 
whelming  burden  of  \yprk,  and  time  all^i^oo  shor^ 
do  it,  he  was  unfailingly   patient,-  courteous,  calm. 
That  liltle  study  at  ii,  Hanover  Terrace,  has  wit- 
nessed   many  a    remarkable    intervie\yt      Doubters  , 
have  been  guided,  and  anxit^us  hearts  ^forted, 
and  enqiiifcrs^rought  to  ttie  Saviour,  in  that  room.    * 
Bat  there  was  no  moi>e  inipressive  witness  of  Christ 
given  there  than  was  given  often  to  those  w|ho  only 
came  for  a  f(?w'  minutes  on  business.      The  secret, 
which  St.  Paul  had  learned,  that  well-balanced  life 


»  -\\ 


\. 


1   ^ 


*     ,BELOVED,  YIFXD  THY  TIME  T0  GOD  24$ 

that  can  dekl  with  matters  of  every  kind\and  frpm' 
every  quarter  in  the  same  Christian    temfaei",  w^s . 
possessed  by  George    Macgregqr  in  a   remarkable 
degree.      When  one  looked  at  him,  so  overvrai^m- 
ingly  busy,  yet  never"  overwhelmed  or  even  so;'Mich 
as  upset,  taking  all^  calmly,  with  a  smile  and  a'klnd 
word  for  every  one,  as  well  as  the  strong,  helpiiW 
hand  whenever  it  was  in  his  power  to  give  that,  on^ 
seemed  to  see  the  livirig  embodiment  of  Rothfe's^\ 
noble  saying— "  It  is  not  r^t  I  long  for,  but  c^lm."- 
H is  wife  writes: —  \- 

•W  '''-^       ■  -  ■' 

1  have  been  thinking  over  little  details  in  his  life  which 
show  how  wonderfully  he  lived  out  all  he  preached.  He 
never  got  a  bheque,  however  small,  without  at  once  mark- 
ing,down  the  tenth  of  it' in  his  charity  book  to  be  given 
away.  Then  he  ntver  was  worried  about  anything.  He 
^  just  seemed  to  cast  all  his  cares  on  his  Saviour,  and  no- 
ig  ever  seemed  to  ruffle- his  calm.  However  busy  he 
he  was  never  put  out  if  interruptions  came.  Often, 
when  I  ysed  to  complain  of  people  paying  him  long  Visits 
in  the  study,  when  I  knew  he  could  ill  .spare  thf  time^  he 
^ould  only  smile,  and  say  he  was  thankful  ifj^g  could^  give 
them  any  spiriUial  help!  When  he  came  BHlr'tired  he 
used  to  go  to wvotgan,  aad|^sitp  down  and  pSy-and  sing' 
,  hymns,  which  he  said  r^t^lmim  more thmanytHing.  The 
last  Sunday  nignt  befiMnbis  illness,  I  il^H|»er,so  w^ll  his 
sitting  down  and  singing  that  lovely  hlBpp'*  Sleep  on,  be- 
loved ! "  right  through.'  It  was  the  lasflirae  I  heard  him 
Strange  that  he  should  have  chosen  that 


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Jt^^hMoni)^  which  he"  could  throw  the 
*burd^ti*^fte  off  hiiiii  jl  instance  is  furnished  by  a 


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~*,-.-? 


4> 


d^s  before  h^  sailed  for  America 

i^d  Confcrertoe  of  1^97-   He  was 

ion  and  arranging  of  passages 

p|l^ri[SiiUo^the  subject  of  the  >|oIy  Ghost,  after- 

%s  published.    4|t  was  a  woi^  of  considerable 

imbiir,  carried  through  with  his  customary  thorough- 

andit  was  being  completed  in  the  "midst  of  all 

;:  H^reparations  both  for  Keswick  and  Northfield,  as 

*  J:  we^fs  for  his  absence  for  the  summer.    The  task 

*  t^  waispit  quite  finished,  and  finding  how  he  was  occu- 
jjipieiilliis  friend -apologised  for  disturbing  him.  ^'Not 
^;  it  i©He  said  ;  "you  must  stay  and  have  tea  with  uS/' 

>'^,  laying  aside  his  papers,  he  led  the  way  to  the 
lfet^tx)nd6ni  garden,  with  its  pleasant  shade  ott  the 
biirtjtig  July  afternoon ;  and  fojj,^cAipl«»f%aurs  he 
r       tasted  and  Pl^'ed  with  liis^children,  and  told^ld 
^       Plhland  st6ri^|id*ftlnny  incidents  of  his  former 
' '    '^mts  to  America--"  all,",  said  his  friend,  "  as  if -he  had 
>  hot  a  care  of  any  'so>t."    And,  indeed^  it  was  ^^«*j£he 
-hajjgiof  a  car^ijS  His  cares  wer^*****^^™"  *"''*'  I^'™'^    -' 
;surreri4er  .of  all  t^hri 


•k-t.. 


-*v 


"       Jigs'-      '  '^f^  w- 
compIeWJiBSjf  "•^^'^  ^    * 

surrender  made  the-f^lfps  of  hisf^aei^oymerit 

is  life  history  hasipen  tpld^lto  li^jje  pi«»pose  *f  it 
lOt  revealed  his  gipat^apacity  for  friendship.  ^.  . ,     M| 
as  a  truly*  hospitable  rtaturfij^^r  ready  to,  ^  ^ 


i 


l:;r  (:. 


'  Xif  ■ 


'~4 


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St- 


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I'S 


A 


BELOVED^  YIELD  TH^  TIME  T0  GOD  347 


welcome  congenial  spirits  and  take  them  to  his  heart. 
This  natural  longing  had  been  intensified  by  circum- 
stances in  his  early  life.    "He  had  gone  to  live  in 
lodgings,"  says  his  college  friend,    the   Rev.  John 
Kelman,/' while  very  young,  an3  had  led  a  life  with 
much  loneliness  in  it,  which  his  exceptiohally  warm 
heart  felt  keenly.     He  often  spoke  of  this,  and  to  any. 
offer  of  Christian  friendship  his  whole  being  responded 
with  hungry  eagerness.    The  friendships  he  formed 
were  wholcrhearted."    To  the  end  of  his  life,  as  many 
can  testify;  all  this,  though  no  longer  with  the  same 
cause  for  "hungry  eagerness,"    remained  true^     A 
further  remark  of  Mr.  Kelman-s,  as  to  the  powerful 
influence  which  George  Macgregor's  personality  ex- 
ercised on  his  friends,  can  equally  be  confirmed  by 
many  others.    "  It  is  almost  incredible  to  me,"  he 
says,  "  that  we  were  together,  as  class-fellows,  in  that 
peculiar  relation  of  intimacy,  only  from  November  to 
February  of  one  year.     His  vivid  personality  laid 
hold  on  one's  imagination  as  well  as  one's  affection  | 
and  an  acquaintanceship  of  three  months  seems,  now 
thM  one  looks  back  upon  it,  an  almost  lifelong  friend- 
ship."   Such  was  he  to'  his  friends,  and  thiis  whole- 
heartedly did  he  enter  into  his  friendships.  \  Yet  fQ 
P  V  w  *#  stronig  a  tiature  could  not  but  be  at  times  somewhat 
\      y       .     solitary.     And,  indeed,  with  all  his  friendliness  and 
H      ^  '    .    -Kts  kpen  enjoyment  of  life,  there  was  a  certain  reserve 
>>  *       .ab^ut  him  in  soiife^of  his  relations  to  life  and  to  men. 


'\*'h 


'"^-ifc 


.■'^•^*^,«*^ 


■\ 


^^'O 


.-   -  V 


s    \ 


^H^    m 


A"  '^    \ 


>.    ' '/' 


■*■■ 


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: 


!^'; 


M^ 


GEORGE  H,  G.  MACGREGOR 


"pifkt  which  was  remarked  of  Hetiry  Drupmond  was 
triie  of  him  also  in  some  measure,  that,  constantly  as 
he  gave  help  toy^thers,  he  rarely  seemed,  in  later  life, 
to  ask  or  ^vej/nqed  help  from  them;  This  wals  not 
iierely  in^J^r&nce  of  <|rhafactef.  Ijt.was  rather  a 
ynd  of  spiritual  detachment  In  many  things,  iiideed, 
!he  could  be  frank  almost  to  the  point  of  unreserve. 
But/the  deepest  was  a  region  to  which  he  cduld/not 
haye  admitted  you  if  he  would.  / 

/He  had  a  considerable  power  of  the  soft  answer,  but 
his  remarks  and  comments  dn  men  and  things  were 
not  only  shrewd,  b\jt  often  showed  a  good  deal  of 
quiet^«arcasm.,  "  1  find  -r—  a  little  oppressed  by  the 
sense  of  what  as  famous  man  he  is  now,"  he  wrote  ol 
one.  l^s  note  upon  a  windy  orator  was,  perhaps  un- 
consciously, very  like  Abraham  Lincoln's  :  "  the  kind 
of  thing  for  thbse  who  like  that  kind  of  thing." ,  Gnce, 
when  he  was  staying  with  a  friend,  some  neighbours 
Jwhom  he  found  far  from !  congenial  dropped  In  to 
spend  the  evening.  They  remained  very  iyte,  sang, 
and  w^ife  somewhat  noisy.  George,  who  was  quite 
young  iat  the  time,  slipped  out  of  the  room,  and  at 
last  was  heard  overhead  playing  and  singing  sacred 
music.  (;  Alr^iistened,  hushpd,  to  the  de^jfcenetrating 
voice.  SPhe  words  were,  "Lord.disr^^s  with  Thy 
blessing  *It  is  not  ^Ul  whether  thejhint  was  im- 
mediatray  taken,      ^  •  ,     M     '  / 

Thus,  in  clear  determinate  ^.surrendWof  life  and  all 


>4|fe. 


;..4.^ 


v 


r. 


•W 


\  ■- 


r  ■  !■ 


;,••■■  ,  1. 


^1 


«* 


R-. 


"    BELOVEDi  '>(fELD  THY  XIME  TO  GOD  949 

things  to  his  Heavenly  Master,  he  ran  his  brief  and 
devoted  career.  So  short  that  career  was,  and  so  full 
of  life  and  promise  he  ever  seemed,  It  is  impossible 
not  to  ask  the-  question,  Need  it,  then,  have  been  so 
sjiort  ? .  did  not  that  intensity  of  devotion  cut  him  off 
before  his  time  ?  It  Is  a  natural  enough  question,  but 
those  who  r«;ally  knew  him  have  no  difficulty  as  to 
the  answer.  It  Is^  true  Ve  often  expostulated,  and 
begged  him  to  spare  himself  Especially  after  his 
youngest  sister's  death,  in  MaWh ,  1 898,  friends 
'  urged  it  aaftiduty  which  he  owtjd  to  himself  and  to 
his  Matster,  tha^Lhe  should  lessen  the  number  of  his 


iay^sl 


ei)gagements  JppnVbt  spend  himself  so  prodigally. 
He  atimitted  the  force  of  this,  and  to*  certain  extent 
tried  to  follow  the  advice.     One  or  two  slisittLbreak-' 


ig^l^re 


not 


downs  accentuated  it  "  I  have  collapsed 
to  be,  allowed  to  go  to  Edinburgh  "  :  so  he  wrote,  so 
long  ago  as  November,  *896.  "I  fear  I  have  been 
overdoingitaUttle.  .  . ,  V  A^r.  Wilson  will  think 
me  a  moi|PPIpiable  person,  for  this  is  the  second 
time  I  have  failed  hirii  this  autumn."  Similar  exr 
pressions  are  not  ^nfreq\ient  in  the  letters  of  the  last 
two  years,, and  it  was  the  sense  of  this  that  led  him 
to  decline  a  third  invitation  to  Northfield,  as  well 
an  increasing  number  of  other  invitations.  'StiljAye 
all  thought  he  did  far  too  much.  Was  he  rig)iit  in  so 
persisting?  My  answer  is  that  very  fe^  of  us  have 
the  right  to  |udgQ  the  actions  ofll  man  who  so  walked 


'    !>^-^ 


^A 


:,:..   '^-   V-- 


il 


N 


\#'>  ^ 


in©  *  ^    ifgBEORGE 


«. 


c.  macCregor 


■  w^ 


p 


with  God  and  worked  for  God  as  this.  In  his  own 
^IpP^'"^^  jilieaulylful  phrase,  God  talks  much  with  His  own  ser- 
vants in  whispers  ;  tbcy  learn  much  which  those  at  a 
Ifreater.  distance  cannot^ overhear.  In  this  case,  He 
seemed  to  convey  to  His  servant's  soul,  in  silence,  but 
very  distinctly,  the  sense  that,  do  as  he  might,  his  life 
and  ministry  would  not  besfq/ery  long.  Hence  he  was 
doubly  jn  earnest  to  redeem  the  time.     The  truth  is, 


^.,. 


there  wa9  a  certair^  vehemence  in  his  temperament 
'  which  ngde  it  impoMiUe  for  him  to  do  anything 
except  Inthat  intense,  ui«|ring  wajf    The  ease  with 
3vhich~  he  spok^  and' th^ftapidity^ with  which    he 
worked,  the  result  of  his  rpnrkable   natural  gifts, 
hid  from  u^  and  perhaps  partly^  ^d  from  him#lf, 
the  cost  at  which  the  whole  thin^pras  done.     His 
nature  was  the  sword-blade  which  is  so  keen  that  it 
'  must  wear  through  its  sheath,  and  whatever  had  been 
'   George  Macgregor's  line  in  life,  even  had  it  been  of  a 
"^kind'making  far  less  demands  on  mind  and  heart,  it 
is  wSify  doubtful  if  he  "Sbuld  ever  have  lived  to  grow 
old.  \  fir  his  own  caiy)\g  of  the  Christian  ministry 
to  curtail  his  engagement^  would  *tifily  have  meant 
diminiished  usefulness,  witKbut   any*^  assurance  that 
he  was  prolonging  his  days.  \A  man  has  but  one 
life  "  ;  his  business  was  to  make  the  very  most  of  it. 
That  intense  and  crowded   life  of^ervice  was  his 
own  choice.    We  may  be  sure  he  doe^ot  regret  it 


.■ 


V. 

'   ■ 

1 

*,■..' 

\-<i 


I    ' 


I 


--eaAy'- 


.■ 


,"'?»* 

' '  -,  '  '■ 

:  ^■\- '  ^-   ; 

■-  -  / 

1 

'  » 

BELOVED, 

YIELD 

tHY 

TIME  TO 

GOD 

«5» 

■■;i;  .'  .■•■  !'■'■■•: 

v^ 

'  ■ 

. 

i 

now ;  nor,  even  amidst  the  keenest  sense  of  loss, 

•hould  we.  ^ 

When  Mary  broke  the  alabaster  box,  and  all  the 
precious    contents  were    poured    out   at   ortce,  the 
disciples  murmured  at  such  waste.     No  doubt,  look- 
ing at  the  matter  from  their  own  narrow,   prosaic 
standpoint,  th^r  were  right.     It  was  an  extravagant 
action,  and  not  an  example  to  be  universally  followed. 
But  Christ  had  only  praise  for  it.     Mary  had  dam 
what  she  could,  shown  her  devotion  in  her  own  way, 
and  what  placed  her  so  immeasurably  above  those 
who  criticised  her  was  that  in  what  she  did  self  was 
entirely  forgotten,  and  she  was  thinking  only  of  her 
tord.      In  George  Macgregor  we  had  among  Us  a 
'^disciple  of  Mary's  type.     He  brought  his  offering 
with  all  his  heart,  and,  counting  not  the   cost,  he 
laid  all  joyfully  at  the  feet  of  Jesus. 


h 


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rtjl 


fTHE  LAST  ypRS 


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'-■i. 


CHAPTER  XV 


'■'/' 


¥>■ 


.'4 


■■'  ■■/'"■■:  ^;The  Last  ■Ycars^--'':^/'.;-  ,^;'"\.- 

IN  March,  1898,  George^ MacgregOr  suffered  the 
heaviest  blow  of  Jiis  liter  life.  His  youngest  • 
sister,  Bessie,  died  of  meningitis,  a.fter  a  few  Hays' 
illnessi  She  was  a  girl  of  ^reat  sweetness  of  char- 
acter, strengthened  and  sanctified  by  trial,  arid 
exerted  a  remarkable  influence  6ver  a  large  class  of 
mill  girls  among  whom  she  worked.  Of  recent  '  • 
years,  parted  as- they  were  by  distance,  their  meetings 

,  were  more  seldom,  but  the  tie  between  brother  and. 
sister  Vvas  the  same  as  in- that -memorable  year  at 
Ferintpsh,  before  he  began   the  study  of  divinity, 
and  afterwards,  when  his  letters  were  full  of  plans     ,  , 
and  suggestions  for  her  Bible  study.    The  effect  of 
her  death'upon  .him  \^as  hardly  less  deep  than  that  of  • 
the  deaths»of  his  father  and  brother,  ten  years  b&fore. 
TJiese  had  given  a  solemn  empha;^s  it  the  beginning . 

^  bf  his  ministry*  and » in  this  fresh  bereaven^ent  h? 

»  seemed  to  hear  a  voice  of  urg^cy  §ind  admonition 

;    tfaat^remai^^ith  hSm  to  thevdosiei    There  Was  no     ^ 


H 

■  ?! 


-.-»- 


.-■^-'r'. 

^  :r      —--^ 

77-  --■■•  - 

— r.;! ■- 

'--^-rA-:- 

7^-  >,•---, — 

— — /7^ 

^■— 

1              ■"      * 

% 

-^- 

_!_-..-,•. 

;  '■:.■■*. 

:    ■ ./  . 

■■■:#■;  .:^ 

■  •■  ,' 

■       ■/;. 

♦     ' 

■,  •    , 

.J  .'.  .-- 

•  ■  t        ■/.    ■ 

;> 

.•■:  .  ■ 

^'■■'.;-'r     ;■• 

.  '■    '-'■■ 

•■ 

:v/*! 

•    '*; 

.  v:'*|; 

e  - 

1 

■       » 

-  „    ;    '■ . 

■  ■''  'I-'-  ;--^;' 

■■■ ;  ■  '•.; 

••■.--'.;■: 

v' 

-*".■.*                ^ 

* 

■J 

■...■  1 


.  *  ■  f 


'  ^  . 


■■•'V 


as6  GEORGE  H.  C.  MACGREiGpR      V 

vain  yielding  to  grref*  andronly  gentle  and  blessed 
thoughts  of  her  who  vhad  gone  before.  On  the 
morning  after  her  death  Mr.  Macgregor  occupied 
his  pulpit  as  usual,  and  some  redeivetf  blessing  as 
he  urged,  upon -the  yout]ger  people  especially,  the 
necessity  of  ifosing  with  Christ. 
He  wrote  \o  a  friendj--n 


v> 


Ilf^HANpVE^   TERflACE,    W. 

'  ■•■  April  1,  i^<j^%.; 
I  write  to*teH  you  of  the  sorrow  that  has  fallen  on  us. 
On  Saturday  myt^oungest  sister,  a  most  beautiful  and 
beloved  gifl,  passed  away  to  the  eternal  home.  She  was 
only  a  week  ill  '^For  hereof  course,  we  cannot  grieve,  but 
there  is  a  sore  sense  of  loss.  And  for  those  with  whom 
she  lived  in  Glasgow  the  blow  is  irreparable.  The  centr^ 
of  the  home  Has  been  taken  away. 

You  will  pray  for  us,  and  specially  for  them.  Oiir  deaj; 
sister  was  buried  on  Monday.  "  "^  , 

Heaven  gets  more  interesting  as  life  goes  Ofi,  and  the  cry, 
"Com^  hoxdk  Jesus/'  becornesmSre  and  niore  the  cry  of 
the  haiurt.  ■^i';s\-;v  ■■:'■■'■:  ■■■'':   -;-^''   ''  ■  ■-  v  ■■'"^:\ 

1898  ii^as  a  very  full  and  busy  year.  It  was  tK 
year  of  his  second  yisit  to  Northfield,  and  of  the 
special  work  laid  upon  him  ^y  Kis  own  Church  in 
visiting  .congregations  to  giiicken  the  missionary 
interest.  Of  contention  wbrft  he  had  a  larger  share 
than,  perhaps,  in  any  former  year.  The  year  brought 
other  losses,  too,  besides  his 'dear  sifter's  death.  ^By 
the  death  of, Mr.  Johh  Short,  an  elder  allotting 


I 


•*,•' 


rs 


:M 


I-    f 


*  J-  '". 


¥' 


> 


4^ 


K  .* 


THE  LAST  YEARS 


•*,•' 


ft 


t 


■if 


«57 


Hill,  he  Idstone  of  hfs  most  devoted  and  sympathetic 
fellow- workers,  and  one  who  was  a  potent  influence 
In  that  part  of  London.  At  Mr.  Short's  funeral  there 
^as  such  a  c<»mpany  of  mourners  as  frinity  Church 
had  never  seen,  nor  was  to  see  until  the  day  when, 
amid  their  sorrow,  a  great  multitude  gave  thanks  to 
God  for  the  ministry  of  George  Macgregor.  Other 
losses  and  burdens  this  young  Greatheart  Bore  for 
his  people  and  himself.  Yet  there,  wts  no  appear- 
ance of  strain.    One  Monday  that  May  I  had  a  long 


» 


bicycle  ride  with  him,  from  Wimbledon  to  Dorking, 

thence  to  Redhill,  and  back  by  Croydon.     He  was 

.a  charming  companion  on  such  an  expedition,  and 

•    though  when- alone  his  pace  was  twelve  miles  an  hour 

or  more,  he  was  ready  to  go  more  slowly  and  slacken 

speed  at  any  point  for  the  sake  of  less  strenuous 

J-idelsi     His  keen  delight  in  the  May  beauty  of  all 

ithe  Surrey  landscape  is  iresh  in  my  memory,  and 

how  we  stood  for  a  good  while  listening  to  a  nightinr 

gale  in  a  thicket  near  Betchworth.    We  talked  of  his 

sister's  d^ath,  and  of  many  other  things ;  and,  as 

:  ^always,  one  was  impressed  anew  with  his  immense 

:  vitality,  dnd  his  freedom  from  the  worrying  care  that 

'keeps  so  naany  of  God's  children  in  bondage.     This 

year  he  had  hardly  any  summer  holiday.     After  his 

return  from  Northfield.-fte  had  only  a  few  days  at 

Braemar,   and    he .  preached  -  on  both  the  Sundays 

when  he  ought  to  have  rei^ted. 


V 


V. 


/■ 


"n:  y 


■■!?■'. 


V  I 


< 


.\   ■ 


,\- 


as8  GEORGE  H.  C.  ^ACQREGOR 

Nevertheless,  he    began    the    winter's  work  with 

enthusiasm,  and  worked  through  most  of  the  season 

^with  all  his  old  energy.      In  February,    1899,   he 

conducted  a  week's  mission  in  the  ^^relay  Church, 

Edinburgh.    Of  that  mission  Dr.  Wilson  writet:-- 

The  last  time  he  was  with  us  I  was  deeply  imprcissed 
with  the  wonderful  advance  he  had  made  in  the  knowledge 
of  divine  things,  and  in  Chri^an  experience.  One  could 
not  but  look  up  to  him  as  a  teacher  specially  taught  of 
God,  ai^d  anticipate  a  remarkable  future  for  him.  And  yet 
|ie  was  sp  humble,  and  open  to  any  suggestion. 

,     In  the  Barclay  Church  Magazine,  y}^.  Hoitu  and 
Abroad,  the  mission  is  thus  described  \-^ 

f 

The  impression  deepened  night  ^ter  night.  The  ad- 
dresses were  direct  and  home-coming,  and  each  evening 
the  way-pf  salvation  was  set  forth  with  all  clearness  and 
fulness.  A  nutttber  of  friends  assembled  for  .prayer  before 
the  hour  of  mecling,  and  again  at  the  close  a  meeting  for 
l^ayer  was  held  in  the  adjoining  hall.  Many  took  part  in 
these  meetings,  and  an  opportunity  for  conversation  was. 
given  to  enquirers,  and  was  more  or  less  taken  advantage 
of.  As  the  week  advanced,"  large  numbers  remained  at 
these  aftejr-meetings.        >  ' 

On  the  afternoons  of  Tuesday,  Wednesday,  Thursday, 

-    and  Friday,  Mr.  Macgregor  conducted  Bible  Readings  in 

the  large  lialL    The  hall  was  filled  day  after  day  with 

attentive   and  interested   audiences,  drawn  from  almost 

every  section  of  the  Christian  Church.    The  expositions  of 

•  the  earlier  chapters  of  thef  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians  were 


X 


\ 


< 


ivSi: 


V  . 


T^  LAST  YEARS 


»S9 


admirable,  full  of  important  teaching^  and  stimulating  in 
the  last  degree.  The  missionary  afternoon  abounded  with 
suggestions  of  the- most  practical,  and  stimulating  kind, 
insisting  above  all  things  on /r<i^^r  for  the  advancement  of 
the  Loud's  work,  which  would  carry  everythin^else  with  it. 
There  were,  numerous  expressions  of  appreciation  of  these 
afternoon  services. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  of  all  the  meetings  was  an 
illustrative  lecture  on  "  Caridlcs "  for  the  children  on  the 
Fridf^y  afternoon.  The  l^all  w^s  packed  with  young  people, 
who  looked  and  listened  with  rapt  attention.  The  illustra- 
tions  were  ingenious  and  memorable.  One  young  wonv^n^ 
who  had  cdme  in  a. state  of  anxiety,  professed  to  have  c^me 
*into  the  light,  and  to  have  surrendered  tp  Christ  during  the 
m.eeting,  and  went  on  her  way  rejoicing. 


%■ 


For  the  missipner^  himself '  it  was  a  ^rnqj^hat 
trying  "week.  Tpwaffs  the  end  of  it  his  vojde,  the 
"  high,  keen  voice,"  as  a  lifelong  friend  describes  it, 
the  fine  instrument  whose  penetrating  accents  wire  ' 
always  he«4^ith  ease  in  the  largest  church  or  hall, 
suddenly  failed,  and  at  the  very  time  when  lie  was  . 
most  anxious  to  clinch  the  impression  made  h6 
fouqd  himself  suddenly,  powerless.  The  friend  in 
whose  house  he  was  living  writes  of  tllis  i-^ 


I  shodd  like  tb  tell  you  how  much  impressed  I  was  by 
him  when  he  was  with  u§  during  the  inission  at  the  iBar- 
Cfey.  He  was  far  %pm  well  all  the  time,  ^ut  ji^  most 
patient  and  uncomplaining,  doing  his  work  <J^  by  /day. 
On  the  Saturday  his  voice  went  completely,  and  wel  had 


/ 


i^-: 


l;'^- 


:■.•"»■■■ 


k 


li 


m 


r- 


a«o        --  G^^GE  H.  C   MACGREGOR 

f"  to  send  for  a  doctor.     IWany  men  would  have  fretted  and 

•     fumed,  and  have  given  us  a  bad  time ;  but  he  was  perfectly 

calm,  and  read  quietly  all  day.    I  remember  it  was  Dr. 

I^rown'f  book  on  the  Second  Coming.    AH  Sunday  morn- 

''  ^g  there  was  great  excitement  at  the  Barclay,  but  it  was  no 

use.    ia>fge  could  nbt  speak.    Most  faithfully  he  used  the 

sev^e  W»edies^  and  did  all  he  possibly  could  to  be  ible 

for  Oie  evening  service,  jind(  great  was  his  joy  when  tU 

doctor  gave  permission  for  him  to  preach  in  the  eijening. 

But  all  through  there  was /?>/«/  submission  to  Gods  mj 


y 


-  This^  misslofi:  iras  but  a  specliiien  c#^<5  t|^^ 
missions  he  conducted  during  these  years.    But  who 
does  not  feel  that^laf   more  impressive   than  ^he 
crowded  audiences  iknd  their  breathless  interest  isithe 

picture  of  the  worker  himself,  patiertt  and  uijdis- 
turbed  under  the  keen  disa:ppointment,  quietly 
reading  on  the  great  subject  of  the  Lord's  Sqcond 
doming  ?  More  ancl  mbre,  all  through  this  /  later 
leriod,  wherever  he  camc^  men  and  womeni  were 
impressed  and  even  awed,  less  by  his  sermons  and 
addresses,  remarkable  as  these,  were,  than /by  his 
manifest  growth  in  the  diVine  life. 

I  remember  (writes  an^^iher  friend)  the  time  Ae  stayed 
with  us  during  one  C^ventioii,-  I  forget  what  year,  but 
Andrew  Murray  spoke^at  the  ^me  time.  I  di^  not  get  to 
'  more  than  two  meetitigs,  but  I  said  to  a  friehd  that  I  had 
got  more  good  from  George  than  if  I  had  g/ne  to  them  all. 
I  felt  that  he  had  grown  so  niuch  since^  had  seen  him 

■   before,  and  he  said  that  Mr.  Murray  b4d  helped,  him  so 


4- 


:., — ..-^-.  -■'■f*-^.-^'. 


\l   '  "Si.  .  S\  .  »i     .^'l 


.>;■• 


/ 


\  t 


i"e«  • 


."V)' 


Tt^E 


YEARS 


a6i 


■    \':. 


much  at  K^SwicK  that  year,  especiaHy  in  making  him 
realize  more  the  gift  God  had  given  to  us  in  prayer  He 
said  we  had  not  hal^  Uken  id  yet  all  that  God  meant  when 
He  alldwed  us  tp  go  to  Him  with  our  requests.  He  seemed  - 
to  be  \(i  close  to  Christ  Himself  that  time,  that  it 
strengtht^ned  one's  pwn  faith  to  see  him. 

It  is  a\profoun4  remairk  of  Df.  M6ody  Stuart  that 
evidence  of  growth  In  the  Christian  life  is  even  nvpre 
impressivtf^  than  attainment  itself.  In  George  Mac- 
gregor  thei'^  was  seen  much  of  both,  but  It  was  the, 
growth  in  ^hese  later  years  that  ni6^t  struck  those 
who. knew  him  best  :     ^ 

From  the  \time  of  hiis  sistor's  death  he  S(6fe'ms  to 
have  had  deef^r  thoughts  than  ever  on  the  subject  of 
the  discipline  <^f  sorrow. 

I  was' much  struck  (continues  the  friend  last  quoted)    . 
with  many  things  he  said  about  sorrows  and  trials  when  he    . 
was  staying  with  us  the  last  time.    Of  course,  it  was  just 
after  mother  went  home/    .     .    .     He  said,  whenever  a^^ 
trial  came  to  him,  he  always  looked  at  it  with  a  kind  ^ 
reverent  curiosity  to  Sice  what  God  meant  him  to  let^n. 
That  God  had  many  sides  to  His  character,  and  that  each 
of  His  children  had  tO  see  a  different  side,  and  show  it  again 
to  the  world  j  it  was  in  our  trials  that  we  got  to  see  our  bit    - 
of  God's  character,  afid  if  we  did  not  see  it  and  show  it 
again  to  others,  that  particular  dif  of  God's  infinite  fulness 
might  never  be  known.  .  ^  ^ 

The  Christian  Endeavour  movement  engaged  much 


■■■1- 


.••■:1 


/" 


_Ju_ 


4* 


K 


-■^-ri--: 


jtHfiyg—  - 


I 

hi 


I 


1 


I 

■■,1 
is 

I:: 


[u. 


1    .    .,: 


a6i 


GEORGE  H.  C.  MACGREGOR 


.<, 


I.,:^;:- 


■i/' 


of  ills  time  and  interest  in  these  later  years.  He^ 
liked  its  definite  pledge,  b!ridi|ig  young  people  to  be 
" out-and-out "  for  Christ;  he  liked  its  discipline  and 
organisation  for  serVicfe,  No  form  of.  work  among 
his  young  people  lay  more  upon  his  heart  than  this." 
He  saw  in  it  an  apt  means  for  kindling  young  dis- 
ciples with  missionary  fire,  an<j(  believed  it  would  thu? 
pecomeagreat  instrumeift' J»wards  the  evangelising 
6i  th^  world.  I  A  i 

Ayou  are  not  forgotten  (he  wrote  to  Miss  Usher  in  Chini») 

'  by\our  Erideavourers.    They  think  of  you  as  their  mission- 

ary\as  much  as  Mr.  Sutherland,  and  the  letter  that  you  sent 

them  was  jnuch  appreciated.     How  much  More  fcal  mission 

.  work  becomes  when  there  is  a  living  stake  in  the  matter!' 

,i  You  90  not  seem  so  far  away  when  Week  by  week  news  of 

you  a^d  your  work' reaches  us*  ;  ■  w 

<At  the  Christian  Endeavour  Convention  at  Belfast 
v^in May!  4899,  he  preached  the  memorable  serftiop  on' 
the  woJ\d  "  Rabboni,"  Afy  Master.  There  was  no 
trufti  on  which  in  h^s  preaching  he  dwelt  with  greater 
delight  than' that  of  Christ's  absolute  *  Lordship' and" 
Ownershij!^.  His  motto  for  the  year  1898  was  Jjie  two 
words^  "  I  beli^i  :  ind  I  belong."^'The  sermon  oh 
the  boretf  ear,  conveying  the  same  noble  jnessage,  has 
been^^referr^  to  both  by  Mr.  CampbellvMoiigan  and 
Professor  Mdule.  When  the  great  world's  gathering 
of  Endeavodrers  was  held  this  year  in  ^ond9njtt  the 
Alexaridra  Palace,  the  thanksgiving  service  included 


.;^. 


I 


I-;.. 


-^V:-:i 


*r  ■■:  ■■ , 


THE  LAST  YEARS 


•63 


natter!     ... 
lews  of 


■t? 


■4-^ 


Ja  djiecial  thankful  remembrance  of  GeorRc  H.  C. 
Macgregor,  the  choir  and  the  vast  ^udience  uniting 
in  singing  "Sleep  on»  beloved  I  sleep, ^d  take  thy 

rest/' 

His  own  church  work,  meanwhile,  went  steadily  on, 
hardly  affected  by  the  number  and  variety  of  out- 
side claims  on  strength  and  time..    The  missionary 
interest    among    his  people,  to   his   joy,    went  .90 , 
steadily  deepening. 

A  good  deal  of  blessirtg  ffecently  (he  writes  to  Miss  Usher 
'in  April,  1899).  Every  week  I  hear  of  the  Word  of  God 
coming  home  with  power  to  the  hearts  of  differtsnt  people. 
It  does  cheer  me  so  much  to  find  that  strangers  entepng 
the  church  for  a  day  have  their  whole  lives  altered.  Yester- 
day a  young  lady  called  to  speak  tome,  and  told  me  that 
fpur  years  ago  she  came  into  Trinity,  ^d  she  dates  her 
whole  religious  life  from  that  day.  God  keeps  the  matter 
-,  quite  hidden  from  us  for  the  four  yfears,  and  then  gives  us 
the  joy  of  knowing  it. .  But  all  the  time  the  blessing  was 

there. 

If  this  is  true  of  our  work,  how  much  more  will  it  be  true 
:  of  yours.    I  think  the^e  will  be  many  delightful  surprises  in 

Heaven,  and  one.  of  the  most  delightful  will  be  for  those  like 
,    you  who  are  doing  the  work  of  preaching  Christ  where  He 

has  not  beei)  named.    Truly  our  God  has  put  honour  on 

you  in  allowing  you  tq  go  forth.     May  He  keep  you  djrtfy 
>  )n  His  ,  love,  filled  with  His  Spirit,  without  WhomTyou 

caT\not  work,       ;  ^ 

You  will  have  heird  of  our  Missionary  Conference/   It 

was  a  time  of  marked  blessing.    The  attendance  was  hot- 


:,r 


VA.  ' 


t^^H. 


„i*»«*"> 


u\ 


iU 


* 


GEORGE  H.  CJ  MACGllEGOR 


so  large  as  I  hod  hoped,  becatisa  of  the  severfty  of  thf 
weather  and  the  abounding  sickness.  But  the  meetings 
were  full  of  spiritual  power.  They  have  won  for  the  mission 
field  more  than  one,  and  for  work  at  home  more  than  one. 
It  i?  so  delightful  to  see  the  work  going  on.  Only  yester- 
day another  of  our  congregation  came  to  me  to  tell  me 
that  she  had  heard  the  call  of  God  calling  her  out  to  China, 
I  da  not  know  if  she  will  be  able  to  go.  But  if  the  call  is 
really  of  God  the  way  will  be  made  open, 


I 

i| 
[if 

i  !.l 

u 


.1 


The  winter  of  1899  began  with  an  enforced  family 
.separation,  which  to  a  nature  like  his  was  peculiarly 
trying. /Mrs.  Macgregor  had  but  Just  recovered  from 
a  period  of  illness  when  their  little  boy'^state  of  health 
m^de  it  necessary  to   send   the  ch^dren  to  Little- 
hitmpton  for  the  winter.     It  seems^'strar^cfe  to  us  now 
that  during  the  la^t  months  of  his  liie  he^ould  have 
seen  so  little  of  his  children.    The,  full  exte*(t  of  the 
sacrifice  he  had  to  make  was  hidden  i^t  the  time, 
'  But  the  anxiety  and  the  months  of  necessary  separa- 
tion were  received  With  patience.    To  a  friend  abroad 
^*•he  wrote :-—  > 

As  I  daresay  you  knbw>  in  our  family  life  the  year  has 
been  a  very  trying  one.  My  dear  wife  has  been  far  from 
well  all  the  year,  and  is  only  now  getting  like  herself 
Then  after  our  return  from  our  summer  holiday  our  little 
boy  took  very  ill,  and  has  been  ordered  out  of  town  fprlhe 
'  wint(?r.  So  our  household  has  been  broken,' up,  and  I  am 
as  in  old  bachelor  days.     It  has  been  trying,  but  God  has 


4^ 


,.-  1 


...  t: 


k: 


4 ' ' 


..-] 


k. 


♦  :f 


'■'»*?' 


THE  LAST  YEARS 


I^S 


beett,  u  ever,  to  gracious,  giving  1|^^H|f*>^"8  to  cheer 
jMpien  the  burden  pressed  heavily.  |HHp9rvellously  good 
^e  is,  and  how  one  comes  to  loVe  Hinris  one  cortics  to 
know  Hinfi  better.    Truly  it  is  etemil  life  to  know  Him. 
GN^  li  f tin  tpeaking   to  many  among  us  about  the 
mislion  field,  and  we  are  sending  two  for  training  to  Edin- 
burgh at  the  beginning  of  next  year.  ,  ;   .  '  v . 
''f  :'  '<   " '      ":- '   ■  ■'■■•''■'".,"  ;-.x^  ''■     ;'  .  ;  .;,:          ■  •;■  ■,..■;''  .  '■  '  ;''.■■'  ■ 

in  November  lie  conducted  a  united  mission  »| 
New  Bafnet    tf;  was  his  lasl  London  mission,  Wid 

was  richer 


:>•'-.- 


\..  V  .:■, 


nonf  in  which  hfeewer  took  part  was  richer  In 
blessing.  The  .people's  hearts  wer6  wonderfully 
opetied,  both  to  receive  blessing  and  then  to  tell  what 
Christ  had  done  for  thcih.  Never  were  the  preacher's 
blended  earnjestness  itiid  love  more  strikingly  seen. 
Ooc  might  ilfflostihw  thoirght  some  presentiment 
of  the  end  was  urging  him  to  take  no  denial,  but 
constrain  his  hearers  to  e^ter  into  the  kingdom.  As 
in  all  his  missions,  the  new  quickening  received  by 
God'si  children  was  not  less  remarkable  than  the 
directcon'WiSrsiQns.  More  than  ever  Mr.  Macgregor 
showed  hirh^l fat  Barnet  to  be  a  teacher  as  welt  as 
an  evangelist  A  gentlemin  of  wide  literary  experi> 
-ence  was  so  much  struck  with  the  freshness  and 
ability  of  the  addresses  deilivered  day  after  day,  that 
he  urged  the  missioner  to  publish  them  in  a  volume. 
The  request  may  yet  be  fulfilled ;  but  the  revision 
will  not  come  from  the  author's  hand. 


» 


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GEORGE   H.  G.   MACGREGOR 


Of  that,  mission  Mr.  Budd  wrote  in,  the  Life  of 


Yttj  many  during  thafTniSsh3iP*were  struck  b)y  tne  deep 
humility  and  profound  teaching  of  this  young  servant  of 
God.  They  saw,  too,  what  a  "single  eye"  he  had-— his  desire 
to  be  nothing  that  Gpd  might  be  glorified.  He  trembled 
I  lest  anyone  should  put  faith  in  George  Macgr^jgor,  instead 
\of  resting  on  his  Master  and  His  Word.  Seldom-  have  we 
cnown  any  messenger  who  was  more  completely  hidden, 
[is  whole  desire  was,  "Not  I,  but  Christ."  How  he 
aved  and  rejoiced  in  the  preparatory  meetings  for  prayer, 
and  how  judiciouisly  he  conducted  the  after-mentings !  In 
these  one  felt  that  iUl  the  work  that  was  done  was  of  the 
operation  of  God  the  Holy  Ghost.""  No  h^iman  pressure,  no 
excitement,  but  prayerful  reliance  on  the  Spirit's  convicting 
and  satisfying  power.  v 


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CHAPTER  XVI       /     :  . 

On  to  the  Close  /    ^; 

.     "Then  thews  came  forth  a  summons  for,  Mr. 
Standfast.    (This  Mr.  Standfast  was  h6  that  the 
rest  of  the  pilgrjms  found  upon  his  knees  in  the 
Enchanted  Ground.)    For  the  Post  brought  it  him 
open  in  hk  hands.    The  oontents  whereof  were, 
That  he  must  prepare  for  a  change  pf  life,  for 
his  Master  was  not  willing  thai  he,  should  be  so 
far  from  Uim  any  longer.     At  this  Mr.  Standfast         ■ 
was  put  into  amuse.    Nay,  said  the  Messenger, 
you  need  not  dc*bt  of  the  truth  of  m^  message, 
for  here  is  a  token   of  the  truth  thereof,  Thy 
wJuel  is  brokefiL  at  the  cistern:'— The  PilgrinCs        ^ 
Progress,  VdxXU. 

^ttE  year  opens  in  gloom,"  he  wrote  in  his 
journal  on  the  first  day  of  1 900.  "  War .  in 
$outh  Africa:  150,000  British  troops  engaged;  at 
home,  trouble  and  sickness."  The  first  few  days  of 
the  year  were,  as  usuah  extremely  busy  ones,  and  this 
year,  besides  the  many  gatherings  in  connection  Avith 
the  Week  of  Prayer,  there  were  the  meetings  of  the. 
Student  Volunteer  "Missicjnary-  Conference,  in  which 
was  intensely  interested.    He  wasi  by  n6  means 


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ge6rge  h.  c.  macgregor 


well.  "Bad  cold,  feeling  111 "  he  notes,  though  to 
others  he  seemed  to  be  working  with  remarkably 
vigouh  On  New  Year's  Day  he  presided  at  a  prayer 
meeting  in  Exeter  Hall,  which  Mf.  Putterill  describes 
as  one  of  the  brightest  and  happiest  meetings  he  ever : 
sa^.  There  was  no  address.  Mr.  Macgr^gbr  began 
by  saying  that  thjs  was  simply  a  meeting/ fof  waiting 
iipon  God,  and  he  would  merely  nypefrbni  time  to 
time  some  of  the  many  topics  vyhrch  they  ought  to 
remember  befofe  Him.  First  presenting  one  or  two 
of  these,  and  inviting  short  pointed  p^i-ayers  for  our 
Father's  help  ;  then  proposing  another  group  of 
subjects,  again  a  third,  and  so  on,  interspersing  with 
singing  and  a^few  words  of  Scripture,  iie  so  manage^, 
by  means  of  his  tact  and  brightness  and  his  intense 
belief  in  prayer^  that  in  two  hours  probably  a  larger 
number  took  part  than  had  ever  been  seen  at  Exeter 

■  Hall.  '  .'■■■".■■■       \       '/'.'  '':■:■■■ 

For  a  number  of  weeks  he  delivered,  also  at 
Exeter  Hall,  a  course  of  special  Bjble  lectures,  in 
continuation  of  those  gi^en  in  t;ne  autumn  b>^  the 
Rev.  Hubert  Brooke,  He  had  long  advocated  sys- 
tematic Bible  study  of  this  kind,  in  order  that  Bible 
readings  should  be  intelligeiit  as  ivell  as  reverent  and 
loving ;  and  in  his  own  church  he  had  given,  on  Sunday 
evenings  after  service,  introdiictions  and  analyses 
of  the  several  books  of  Scr^^ture.  In  the  recent 
Bible  schools  of  Professor  ^A^hite  and  the  Rev.  G. 


/■, 


^  .V 


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'  •  > 


■"v./  " 


ON  TO  THE  CLOSE 


971 


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Soltau  he  had  taken  a  warm  Interest,  and  he  looked 
forward  to  a  great  development  of  such  work.  His, 
lectures  were  given  on  Thursdays,  in  the  afternoon  to 
a  general  audience,  largely  coipposed  of  ladies,  and 
in  the  evening  to  young  men.  The  lectures  were* 
admirable—fresh,  lucid,  full  of  information,,  and  of 
loving  delight  in  God's  Word.     The   attendance,  i 

1  "however,  was  les$  than  might  hive  been  expecte<^; 

.^r  though  sufficiently  Accounted  for  by  the  circumstances  ' 
of  the  season— the  inclement  weather,  the  prevalence 
of  sickness,  and'  the  anxiety  and  excitement  of  the 

■.  ■-  War.;  •      •     '•■■.'.    ^  :■■■...'■         ''':'^?^: 

This  last  journal  of  his  Is  somewhat  pathetic  read- 
ing.   Never  had  he  worked  harder  in  every  depart-, 
ment  of  fits  work  than  durmg  that  late  and  ungenial 
spring,  and  never  perhaps  with  less  outward  sign  Of 
encouragement    Again  and  again  he  who  was  ac- 
customed to  eager  crowds  gave  of  hfe  best  to  a  mei'e 
handfulof  people.    It  was  a  ftew  experience,  but  he 
did  not   let  it  aflfect  him   in  the  least.     If  there 
had  once  been  a  certain  measure  of  elation  at  in- 
dications of  outward  acceptance,  that  was  lon^  past ; 
all  that  he  cared  for  .how  was  his  Master's  work,  and, 
to  be  permitted  to  serve  Him  was  in  itself  more  than 
suffici^^  reward.      Physically,  ihe  \york  cost    him 
more  than^^it  used  to  do.    More  than  once  he  spoke 
to  near  fri  erids  of  warnings  which  he  had  received 
indicating  that^he  was  working  perilously  near  the . 


■■■  /■, 


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Vi 


37a 


GEORGE  H.  C   MACGREGOR 


utmost  limits  of  his  strength.  Yet  he  looked  well, 
the  fine^calmftess  of  his  spirit  keeping  him  up.  He 
even  said  that  during  these  i^ontAs'he  had  somewhat 
gained  in  weight.  To  us  all  the  noble  "haste"  he 
showed  in  his  Kitig's  business  was  more  impressive 

than  ever. 

.  His  letters  were  briefer,  and,  save  necessary  notes 
on  business,  fewer  ;  but  they  were  full  as  ever  of  faith 
and  love. 

To  a  Fritnd, 

February  28,  1900. 
Look  up.  Hope  on.  Pray  without  ceasing.  "  Why  art 
thou  cast  down,  O  my  soul  ?  and  why  art  thou  disquieted 
in  me  ?  Hope  in  God :  for.  I  shall  yet  praise  Him,  who  is  tfie 
health;  of  my  countenance)  and  my  God."  "  The  God  of 
hope  fill  you  with  all  joy  and  peace  in  believing,  that  you 
may  abound  in  hope  through  the  power  of  the  Holy  tlhost." 
You  are  being  tempted  to  discouragements  Reaist  the 
deviL    Cease  to  struggle.    Trust.     -  ^:  ■  ■■ 

'    V  Yours  very  truly, 

George  H.  G.  Macgregoii. 
'■■--'■'.  ■..    ■  ■■/■^    ■■*•■.     ■  •  V'     ■  ■■  ■      ■''■' 
-.■  ■'\'':  ■■■    --Tb  Another,-  ■'    '  •■'.  ^..  .■,/ 

I;  February  ii^  \f)oo. 

I  hope  you  are  well,  arid  enjoying  the  favour  and  blessing 
of  God.  i  am  very  well,  but  over-pressed  with  work.  I 
have  to  sing  very  often,  "Not  a  blast  of  hurry."  It  is 
wonderful  how  God's  peace  does  keep. 


" '  — —  ":  r  — ""  """^~" — ".'.'. 


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,'    .  March  6-,  i^oo. 

I  am  sending  you.  a '•wee  bookie  "which  has  been  a 
message  of  comfort  to  many,  and  I  want  you  to  pray  that 
God  may  use  it  much    .    .    .  •  r  *» 

I  am  very  well,  but  driven  like  a  slave.  I  have  hardly 
leisure  to  eat.    Yet  I  am  getting  fat. 

...  Yours  ever. 

"7  '^ ;        "  •  :^^  ■"■.■  •'  - .■;  ■  ' '  ■  G.' H,  C,  M. 

.  ..  .     ■  ,_.■"■■'  n      "-,.  " 

•      ■       -  ■-'.■■. 

'  Never  had  his  preaching  been  marked  by  a  greater 

intensity  of  appeal  to  the  unsaved  than 'during  this 

spring.     It  was  as  if  the  feeling  possessed  him  which 

is  expressed  in  the  lines  : 

I  preached  as  never  sure  to  preach  again,  , 

And  as  a  dying  man  to  dying  men.  y. 

Sunday  after  Sunday  his  one  theme  was  th^iiini^ 
oM  aspects  gf  the  Great  Salvation.  Christ,*  Our 
Saviour  from  Sin,  from  Cfere,  from  Temptation  ;  His 
Glory;  the  Urichanging  Christ ;  Christ  and  our  Cross  ; 
Christ  and  our  Perplexities ;  such  are  the  topiqs  of 
successive  Sunday  evenings.  "  He  always  believed," 
says  a  friend,  "that  the  specialty  of  the"  Christian 
pulpit  was  to  preach  Christ,"  and  in  this  ministry  he 
peirsevered  with  insistence  to  the  last 

In  the  end  of  March  he  went;  to  Aberdeen,  to  con- 
duct a  week's  mission  in  connection  with  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association.  Before  the  mission 
began  he  had  two  or  three  days'  rest,  which  he  greatly 

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GEORGE  H.  C  MACGREGOR 


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enjoyed,  in  the  midst  of  old  friends.  "Weather 
beautifully  warm  and  bright,"  he  notes.  /'Enjoying 
rest  thoroughly." 

Sunday^  April  i,  1900.— In  .the  morning  worshipped  In 
the  Free  East  Church,  ai>d,hlard  Todd^  preach  a  capital 
sermon  on  "  He  delightath'ip  mercy."  Afternoon  spoke  to 
.a  mission  meeting  in  the  X-M.C.A.  on  Character.  In  the 
evening  preached  to  a  great  crowd  in  the  Free  East  on  the 
Mastery  of  Life,  then  addressed  a  meeting  ih  the  Y.M.C.A. 
on  To-day.  . 

Day  by  day  the  interest  at  all  his  meetings 
deepened,  till  on  the  Friday,  when  the  mission  dosed, 
he  notes  "  great  power  and  blessing."  It  was  dur- 
ing this  week  that  he  paid  the  visit  to  Allenvale 
Cemetery,  mentioned  in  an  earlier  chapter,  and  ex- 
pressed the  wish  to  be  buried  there.  As  he  and 
his  wife  left  the  cemetery,  he  said  to  a  friend  whom 
they  chanced  to  meet  on  the  road,  "  I  have  just 
been  choosing  my  lasi  resting-place."  There  was  no 
sort  of  gloom  or  shadow,  however,  noticeable  in  his 
bearing  or  conversation.  Indeed,  he  was  singularly 
bright  and  happy.  Yet  many  have  felt  since  as  if 
there  was  something  prophetic  about  his  manner 
during  that  last  visit.  The  strange  sense  of  growth 
and  ripening,  that  Dr.  Wilson  and  others  remarked  in 
Edinburgh  the  year  before,  was  more  perceptible  still. 
"So  Spirit-led  he  was,"  says  one,  "both  in  prayer 
aifd  Preachings  he  seemed  to  divine  all   that  ?^s 


ON  TO  THE  CLOSE 


«7S 


passing  In  his  hearers*  minds."  A  friend  who  had 
charge  of  a  library  in  the  city  saw  him  several  times 
in  the  course  of  the  mlission.  They  talked  of  books, 
Jn  which  he  was  interested  as  ever,  but  he  said 
there  were  a  great  many  books  he  used  to  like  which 
he  now  fpund  he  had  119  interest  in  ;  and  he  merely 
glanced  at,  and  laid  asidc«  several  volumes  by  current 
writers  of  name.  He  called  upon  a  number  of  the 
old  and  feeble  members  of  his  former  congregation.- 
A  widow  whom  he  thus  visited  said  she  heard  he  was 
doing  far  too  much  in  London.  "  Ah,"  he  said,  "  when 
we  look  back  to  it  from  the  other  side,  how  little  will 
everything  that  we  have  done  appear  I" 

He  returned  to  London  on  Saturday,  the  7th  of 
April.  Next  day  he  preached  in  his  own  church  a 
remarkable  sermon  on  Pra>^er,  and  in  the  evening  on 
the  Healing  of  th^|||ifil>  Man  at  BIthsaida— "  Eph- 
phatha."  .  The  weeK  that  followed,  after  his  ten  days' 
absence  from  home,  was  a  specially  busy  one.  "A 
terrible  morning  of  letter-writing";  "  writing  sermons 
aUday";  "very  busy" — such  are  the  various  days 
entries.  On  the  Friday,  which  was  Good-Friday,  he 
-jpreached  in  the' morning  on  Romans  iii.  25,  on  the 
/.blessed  truth  of  tihe  Atoning  Sacrifice.  In  the  after- 
noon h$  addressed  a  great  meeting  of  the  Christian 
Endeavour  Convention  in  the  City.  Temple.  There 
he  spoke  on  Bible  Study,  and  "  showed,"  \*rote  i^jss 
Jennie  Street  in  C/m'sffan  En^feavour--^  >C^ 


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,,6  GEORGE  H.  C.   MACQREGOR 

that  he  had  a  high  opAion  of  the  mental  capacity  of  hit 
audience    by  giving  them  an  addrcs>i  which  would  have 
been  quite  appropriate  to  a  gathering  of  theological  itu- 
dents    .    .    .    The  bulk  of  the  audience  listened  intently, 
and  pany  young  people  used  notebooks  and  pencils  to 
tfbod^purposc,  while  the.  speaker  showed  that  the  Bible 
student's  Uttitude  mllst  be  revennt,  receptive,  submissive,  and 
dependent  on  the  Holy  Spirit ;  his  modes  of  study  must  be 
direet  (the  Bible  itself,  and  not  merely  books  about  the 
Bible),  continuous,  regular,  systematic,  and  '^'S^^^^^ '»  *f:  ^ 
with  a  view  to  discovering  its  meaning.     A  useful  limt 
under  this  division  was  the  counsel  to  paraphrase  familiar 
Bible  verses,  to  make  sure  that  their  meaning  has  really 
been  grasped.    Methods  of  study  are  m^ny -literary,  his- 
torical,  fheological,  etc.,  and  all  must  be   used   to  some 
extent  if  tht  devotional  method,  the  most  important  of  all, 
is  to  be  used  to  the  best  advantage;  while  the  purpose  of 
all  Bible  study  must  be,  «a  PauU wrote  to  Timothy,  equip- 
ment for  service— "that  the  man  of  God  may  be  thoroughly 
furnished  utito  all  good  works." 

He  was  not  afraid  to  refer  to  the  burning  question 
of  Bible  criticism,  and,  as  he  had  always  done,  he 
maintained  once  more  lOiat  a  reverent  and  believing 
criticism  is  not  only  legitimate,  but  renders  the 
greatest  service  to  truth. 

On  Easter  Sunday  he  preached  in  the  morning 
the  sermon  on  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life,  which 
has  since  been  printed  for  private  circulation.  In 
the  afternoon  he  spoke  to  the  children  of  his  Sun- 
day schools  assembled  in  church,  and  at  night  he 


M- 


ifimi^  1^^-=^  -vi. 


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1. 


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ON  TO  THE  CLOSE 


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preached  on  John  x.  27,  28  and   Hebrews  vi.  4-6, 
dwelling  upon  the  joyful  assurance  of  believers,  the 
sheep  to  whom  the  Shepherd  gives  eternal  lifoi  and 
coupling  with  this  the    most    solemn    and    tender 
warning  to  the  unsaved.     Next  day  he  travelled  to 
Sunderland,  speak ijig  five  times  in  the  (fourse  of  the 
next  two  days.     On  Wednesday  evening   he   was 
home  again,  and  conducted  his  week-night  service. 
The  text  of  this,  his  lait  sermon,  was  2  letter  i.  5, 
along  with  the  description  of  the  Christian  armour  in 
Ephesians.    After  so  much  hard  work  he  was  still,  to 
all  appearance,  in  the  best  of  health  and  spirits,  and 
on  Thursday  was  specially  bright  and  energeti^.    On 
Friday,  however,  he  was  seized  with  sudden  sickness 
and  severe  headache.    At  first  nothing  more  serious 
than  a  sharp  gastric  attack  was  suspected ;  but  the 
increasing  fever  and  the  delirium  which  soon  came/ 
on  indicated  something  very  grave,  and  on  Sunday, 
April  22,  the  illness  was  pronounced  to  be  menin- 
gitis."   His  own  physician,  Pr.  James  Kirkland,  was 
in  constant  attendance  from  the  first;  and  when  it 
became  necessary  to  have  a  consultation,  the  advice 
of  Dr.  Stanley  Smith  and  of  Dr.  James  Taylor,  the 
eminent   specialist,  was   obtained^     Two   Mildmay 
nurses  assiduously  nursed  him,  and  his  devoted  wife 
hardly  left  his  bedside  during  the  fortnight's  illness. 

His  death  (says  Dr.  Kirkland,  in  some  notes  of  Mr. 
Macgregor's  last  illness),  quiet  and  uncomplaining,  in  spite 


>*- 


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»78 


GEORGE  H.  C   MACGREGOR 


1'^ 


of  the  torture  he  must  have  suffered,  was  quite  in  keeping 
with  his  purej  lovely  life.  Never  once  was  a  murmuriag  or 
complaining  word  Jieard  to  escape  his  lips.  On  the  con- 
trary, in  the  midst  of  extreme  weakness,  both  of  mind  and 
body,  his  last  words  on  earth,  were  those  that  he  so  ofte' 
spoke  with  such  fervour  and  love,  Praise  God. 

All  through 'his* ilUiess,  when  for  brief  moments  the 
delirium  left  him,  he  thought  not  of  himself,  but  of  others 
Early  in  his  illness,  when  I  was  left  alone  with  him,  he 
beckoned  to  me,  and  whispered,  with  a  sweet  smile,  "  Dear 
doctor,  I  am  so  sorry  for  all  the  trouble  I  am  giving  you 
and  the  Other  dear  ones;  but  I  know  it  is  useless,  I  know 
r am  going  home."  I  shall  never  forget  the  lovely  smile 
and  the  radiant  joy  that  seemed  to  light  up  his  face  as  he 
said  it.  ({is  thoughts  and  prayers,  as  far  as  we  could 
make  them  out,  seemed*  qU  to  be  for  hjs  beloved  .people 
and  the  Jews,  and  only  once  did  he  say  to  us,  when  we 
asked  what  he  was  saying  (fearing  he  required^mething 
which  we  might  have  omitted),  "Oh,  I  am  just  telling 
Jehovah  about  my  sickness."  I  never  caught,  a  word 
about  wishing  to  ^et  better.  He  seemed  to  lohg  to  go 
home  to  be  with  the  Lord  he  loved  so  well. 

Once,  while  his  wife  sat  by  his  bedside,  she  stooped  over 
him,  and  he  kissed  her,  and  said,  "God  has  a  place  fur 
me.  You  will  not  be  forsaken."  This  was  indistinct,  and 
uttered  in  extreme  weakness.  As  I  was  standing  by  his 
bedside  one  afternoon,  after  he  had  begun  to  rally  from  a 
Severe  coUapscf,  I  said,  "Poor  dear  felldt."  He  quickly 
looked  up  an#  brightly  said,  "^Oh,  I  am  not  quite  so  sure 
about  that."    In  Christ  he  was  rich  indeed. 

The  little  messages  he  gave  to  his  dear  wife  were  very 
sweet  and  gentle,  but  oh,  so  few !    He  was  not  able  to  do 


ON  TO  THE  CLOSE 


879 


more  than  utter  a  few  words  at  a  time.    Yet  he  never 
omitted  to  thank  his  devoted  nursis,  and  at  times  he  said    " 
things  to  them  quite  cheerfully.    He  always  appeared  to  be 
quite  resigned,  and,  when  he  could,  he  helped  us  as  much 
as  possible.    He  lived  for  others,  and  he  died  thinking  of 

others. 

Very  early  in  his  sickness  he  said  to  me,  "I  hope  God 
will  spare  me  to  partake  of  artother  communion  with  my 
congregation.".  God  in  ^  good  providence  did  not 
permit  that.  How  many  of  us  will  drink  it  new  ivith  him 
in  the  kingdom  oif  Gbd? 

God's  own  presence  seemed  very  near  in  the  sick-room. 
One  could  not  help  feeling  that,  and  the  beloved  patient 
felt,  it  too,  for  he  said  to  me  towards  the  end  of  his  ilMss, 
"There  must  be  a  stream  of  prayer  ascending  for  me ;  I 
feel  it"  I  do  not  think  he  suffered  much  pain  towards  the  ' 
last,  but  during  the  earlier  part  of  his  illness  he  suffered 
keenly,  and  it  was  beautiful  to  see  how  ungrudgingly  and 
sweetly  he  bore  it.  Truly,  in  his  own  last  writtet^  words/ 
he  was  brave  and  strong  in  the  Lord.  Patience  had  her 
perfect  work,  and  he  has  now  received  the  crown  of  glory. 

The  "  stream  of  prayer  "  of  which  the  sufferef  was 
conscious  was  indeed  an  actual  fact.  The  news  that 
George  Macgreg;or  lay  at  thie  point  of  death  spread 
with  wonderful  rapidity,  and  wherever  the  grave 
news  came  those  who  loved  him,  and  to  whom  under 
God  he  had  been  a  means  of  blessing,  prayed  witfa, 
much  entreaty  that,  iif  it  were  God's  will,  so  precious 
a  life  might  be  spared.  Specially  was  this  the  case 
at  Barnet  and  other  places,  where  he  hacj  recently 


^  11 


.f  ■  '1 


'.  -^  .JZ-JiJ^Z 


vmmmKmesxm: 


■.\ . 


:"^sffl^ri^ 


v^mm^''" 


a8o 


GEORGE  H.  C.  MACGREGOR 


conducted  mission^,  and  where  those  who  had  so 
recently  seen  him  in  fullest  vigour,  and  rejoicing  i 
the  work  of  the  Lord,  could  scarcely  at  first  jpredit 
the  news  of  his  danger.  In  his  own  copi^regation 
there  were  meetings  for  speciarprayer/fwiee  a  day, 
and  very  many  Churches  of  all  ^kfnominatibns  re- 
membered him  before  God.  Kliny  came  long  dis- 
tances to  read  the  daily  bulletins  at  Hanover  Terrace 
and  little  groups  waited  outside  for  fresh  tidings 
till  long  after  midpight.  "At  the  Synod  of  his 
Church  at  Manchester,"  writes  Dr.  Stalker,  Who  hap- 
pened to  be/present  as  a  deppity,  "the  cloud  of 
anxiety  w)Hch  rested  on  the  whole  assembly,  and  the 
straine^nd  hushed  attention  with  which  the  daily 
telegrams  about  his  condition  were  received,  bore 
loquent  testimony  to  the  place  of  honour  and  afrec-: 
tion  he  had  secured  in  the  hearts  of  his  brethren." 
Once  and  again,  during  that  heavy  fortnight,  there 
were  returns  of  hope.  The  patient's  vigorous  constitu- 
tion and  perfect  calmness  of  spirit  were  in  his  favour, 
anfi  by  Tuesday,  the  1st  of  May,  the  meningitis  was 
overcome.  On  the  previous  day  Mr.  Mathieson  saw 
him  for  a  few  moments  and  offered  prayer.  A  whis- 
pered "Amen  "  at  the  close  was  among  George  Mac- 
gregor's  last  words  on  earth.  Tuesday  evening's  bulle- 
tin, telegraphed  to  an  anxious  friend  returning  home- 
ward from  abroad,  was,  "Slight  improvement ;  doctof 
hopeful."    But  before  the  traveller  reached  London 


LjiLil.;  r  T ' 


^^^^^^^^^^^ 


:w;--r 


!'  '  ■■ 


'^ 


ON  TO  THE  CLOSE 


381 


all  was  over.  On  the  Wednesday  >fternobn  there 
occurred  a  suffusion  of  blood  on  the  brain,  producing 
coma,  from  which  there  was  no  rallying,  and  at 
half-past  eight  on  the  morning  of  Thursday,  the  3rd 
of  May*  1900,  he  entered  into  rest  He  wanted  a 
.month  of  completing  his  thirty-sixth  year.  Youn^ 
as  he  was,  in  the  repose  of  his  lasf  sleep  he  appeared 
still  younger,  and  it  was  difficult  for  those  who  saw ' 
him  to  realize  that  such  a  mass  and  vari^  of  fruitful 
service  had  been  accomplished  by  one  so  early^called 

away. 

On  the  following  Monday,  Notting  Hill  Presby- 
terian Church    was    crowded    with    a   great  com- 
pany of  mourning  friends.      Ministers  and  people 
of  many  different  Churches  were\jhere ;  those  whom 
he  worked  with  at  Keswkk,  those  whom  he  worked 
with  in  the  mission  cause,  and  for  the  conversion  of 
Israel.     There,  too,  was    his    Northfield    comrade, 
/<;ampbell  Morgan,  recovered,  by  the  good  hand -of 
God,  from  a  dangerous  illness.     Thus  one  is  taken 
and  another  left.    The  service  was  conducted  by  Mr. 
Conn^l,  of  Regent  Square,  Mr.   F.  B.   Meyer,*  Mr. 
Johnston  Ross,  and  Pastor  Frank  H.  Whjte.    The 
hymns  were,  "  O  God,  our  help  in  ages  past,"  "  Now 
the  labourer's  task  is  o'er,"    and    "Ten    thousand 
times  ten  thousand  " ;  songs  expressive  not  of  loss 
and  sorrow  only,  but  of  hope  and  triumph  too.    In 
Mr.  Meyer's  address,  also,  there  was  a  clear  note  of 


/ 


JWr'iiaa.'i'i"W*'y'.i'"WI'  'mafJWiiS 


-^p^'f 


aSa 


GEORGE  H.  C  MACGREGOR 


thanksgiving  and  satisfaction  for  the  life  so  full  of 
service  and  consecration,  now  crowned  with  victory 
and  rest  Next  day  a  similar  scene  was  witnessed 
in  the  Free  East  Church,  Aberdeen^,  and  the  same 
strains  of  faith  and  thanksgiving  heard ;  and  then 
they  laid  to  rest  in  Allert vale  Cemetery  all  that  was 
mortal  of  George  Macgregor,  to  wait  for  the  coming 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

On  Sunday,  the  13th  May,  Mr.  Macgregdr's  pul- 
pit at  Notting  rtill  was  occupied  in  the  morning 
by  the  present  writer,  and  in  the  evening  by  Mr. 
Johnston  Ross.  Looking  back  over  his  friend's  re- 
ligious life,  especially  from  the  point  when,  in  1883, 
it  "burst  forth  in  a  .sudden  blaze  of  splendour  and 
intensity  of  devotion,"  Mr.  Ross  said : — 

I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  the  outstanding  note 
of  my  friend's  religious  life  was  from  the  very  beginning 
his  frank  acceptance  of  the  position  of  debtorship  to  Jesus^ 
Christ.  Hi^  placed  his  life  absolutely  in  the  hands  of  his 
Lord.  For  leadership,  alike  in  the  small  details  of  life  and 
in  the  shaping  purposes  of  his  career,  he  gave  himself  com- 
pletely over  into  the  Saviour's  hands. 

I  cannor  believe  that  my  friend's  life,  which  from  the 
first  was  so  entirely  surrendered,  and  which  was  yet  essen^ 
tially  an  ambitious  life— ambitious  for  self-fulfilment,  and 
he  resolved  to  have  that  self-fulfilment  only  in  and  through 
Jesus  Christ— I  canndt  believe  that  the  satisfaction  and 
fulfilment  have  been  denied  to  a  life  that  strained  after,  that 
yearned  towards,  that  from  the  beginning  leaned  absolutely 


'"■  "^■ 


OK  TO  +HE  CLOSE 


•»3 


r 


upon  Jesus  Christ.  As  I  go  back  to  the  days  wheh  he  and 
I  knelt  together,  as  we  sought  to  give  ourselves  to  Jesus 
and  consecrate  our  lives  to  Him,  and  as  the  echo  of  that 
high,  keen  voice,  with  its  peculiar  urgency  in  prayer  comes 
back  to  me  now,  I  think  of  my  friend  straining  towards 
Jesus ;  and  I  cannot  beliftve  that  he  is  anywhere  to-day  but 
where  John  lay,  breast  to  brcfwt  with  the  Lamb  of  God. 

Thus  we  have  followed  our  brother's  life  to  its 
close.  But  ought  we  not  rather  to  say,  to  the 
beginning?  For  the  perfect  life  which  he  yearned  for, 
unclouded  light  and  holiness,  and  unbroken  fellow- 
ship, with  God,  is  the  life  he  has  now  entered  upon  in 
the  presence  of  the  King.  v 


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\ 


__^.-- ^^CHAPTER  XVII  * 

His  Works  do  Follow  Him 

"His  life  was  in  accord  with  his  preaching,  and 
in  that  preaching  there  was  a  note  which  sounded 
'  with  special  distinctness  and  emphasis,  the  call  to 
a  life  of  holiness."— A/r.  Jamt$  E.  Mathieson. 

DEEP  and  widespread  was  the  sense  of  loss  at 
the  news  that  George  Macgregot  had  gone 
home.  From  all  sections  of  the  Christian  Church, 
and  nearly  all  parts  of  the  world,  came  tributes  of 
sympathy  and  testimonies  of  indebtedness.  Pecu-* 
liarly  touching  were  those  which  came  from  distant 
mission  fields,  where,  even  amid  threatening  danger, 
they  remembered  and  mourned  one  so  devoted  to 
the  evangelization  of  the  world.  t)f  the  numberless 
letters  of  sympathy  received,  two  may  be  given  as  of 
somewhat  special  interest.  The  first  is  ffCjn  Mrs. 
Moody,  the  second  from  the  venerable  chairman  at 
Keswick. 

East  NoRTHFiELD,  Mass.,  ^ 
(     May  17,  1900. 
Mv  DEAR  Mrs.  Macgbegor, 

I  have  just  heard  to-day  of  your  sad  IdtfltQd  your  dear 

■       .      -    '  887        . 


•N 


.%: 


■'%.' 


•89 


GEORGE   II.  C.   MACGRECiOR 


/ 


hus^nd's  gain.     How 

•fl  about  it— the  aching  void,  the  loncUnesi,  and  the  change 

it  makes  when  we  (ifel  part  of  our  life  has  gone  from  ^s. 

I  know,  too,  that  the  Lord  can  help,  and  He  loves  us  iill 
Lthe  time.     I  pray  that  He  may  comfort  you.     He  can  do 

it  as  no  earthly  friend  can,  and  to  you  and  the  dear  chil- 
dren may  He  be  a  very  present  help. 

There  are  many  in  Northficld  who  will  think  of  you  in 
your  sorrow,  and  many  will  grieve  that  they  shall  hear  your 
husband's  voic^Si«^yio  more.  I  love  to  think  that  the 
separation  may  not  be  long,  but  that  Christ  may  come  with 
pur  dear  ones  soon. 

Ibough  I  have  not  met  you,  I  feel  that  yw  will  let  Jie 
synapathise  with  you»  and  so  send  you  my  tender  loVe^nd 
sympathy.       ^  "L 

Vciry  sincerely  yours, 

Emma  C.  Moodv. 

Brouohton  Grange,  Cockermouth, 

MV  DEAR  Mrs.   MACCREqOR,  ^  ^'   '^°°* 

Hbw  shall  I  dare  to  take,  in  even  the  smallest  measure, 

(he  office  of  the  Abiding  Comforter,  who  is  with  you  and 

yours  in  this  deep  trouble  ^He' has  been  pleased  in  His 

infinite  wisdom  and  love  t6  permit?    His  words  are,  "As 

on6  whom  his  mother  comforteth,^  so  will  J  comfort  you." 

Se  in  the  hands  of  Him  iho  "doelh  all  things  well"  we 

must  leave  it,  seeking  streiJgth  to  say,  "Thy  will  be  done." 

My  dear  bereaved  friend  and  sister,  take  all  the  loving 

sympathy  which  fills  my  hejart,  from  one  who  was  permitted 

by  the  dear  one  gone  homi  to  aill  him  brother. 

How  we  all  shall  miss  I  him,  and  his  clear  and  forcible 
words,  none  can  tell. 


R 


*ns  WORKS  DO  FOLLOW  HIM 


t89 


luf  I  know 
d  the  change 
)ne  from  ijis. 
I  loves  ui  ill 
He  can  do 
le  dear  chilp 

k  of  you  In 
ill  hear  your 
ink  that  the 
y  come  with 

^.  ■  i 

I  will  let  nUe 

ler  loVesand 

ours, 
.  Moody. 

UTH, 

5»  1900. 

»t  measure, 
th  you  and 
sed  in  His 
dsare,  "As 
mfort  you." 
gs  well "  we 
I  be  done." 
the  loving 
8  permitted 

nd  forcible 


Excuse  more,  as  I  am  but  feeble ;  yet  my  love  is  strong. 
May  you  know  the  Lord  to  sustain  you—"  He  is  faithful." 
Your  sympathising  friend,  with  much  love, 

'  ^  RODERT  WiLSOM. 

I 

Try  to  live  om  day  at*  a  time,  and  do  not  look  fonvarJ. 
His  God  is  your  God  foi'  ever,  and  will  guide.  May  you 
be  able  to  rejoice  in  the  |;lory  into  which  he  has  entered, 
and  which  he  now  shares  with  his  Lord. 

A  gentleman  well  known  both  in  England  and 
Scotland  wrote: — 

I  owe  him  much.  It  was  observing  a  lovely  trait  in  his 
character  that  gave  my  daughter  her  first  impression  of  the 
reality  of  Keswick  teaching,  and  changed  her  life.  We 
venerate  his  memory.  ,  .  .At  Keswick  he  spent  a 
long  night— far  into  the  small  hours— in  deep  and  holy 
conversation  with  pur  guests— a  night  some  of  them  will 
never  forget.  « 

There  has  never  (says  his  revered  teacher,  Professor 
Laidlaw)  been  any  death  among  my  former  pupils  that  I 
have  mourned  so  much  as  this.  What  was  so  attractive  to 
me  from  the  beginning  of  his  student  days  was  the  direct- 
ness and  simplicity  of  his  attention  to  the  main  end  of  the 
Christian  ministry,  the  promotion  of  the  interests  of  the 
kingdom  of  God.  He  was  a  diligent  and  devoted  student, 
but  even  study  was  secondary,  a  means  to  an  end ;  the 
primary  thing  was  that  God's  work  should  be  done.  When 
1  visited  him  afterwards,  as  a  minister  in  Aberdeen,  fiis 
talk  and  manner  in  the  house,  no  less  than  his  preaching, 
carried  on  exactly  what  had  been  conceived  of  him  at 


h 


'm 


M     • 


<*«,  ■■ 


\ 


'<■•„, 


v-- 


%1«  "WJ^- 


«f»  GEORGE  H.  C.   MACOREGOr 

college,  and  was  enliroly  occupied  with  the  intefeata  of  the 
spiritual  life.  . 

After  he  wer»t  to  Ix>ndon  I  taw  tcsa  of  him,  but  we  met 
fro<iuently  at  Keswick,  and  he  visited  us  on  Keswick  work      f 
in  Edinburgh.     It  always  seemed  to  mo  that  that  work  was   '    " 
with  him  aimply  a  higher  and  intenicr  form  of  what  had  "* 
been  from  atudent  days  hia  real  life.     No  doubt  it  seemed"!^ 
him  to  come  as  a  crisis,  and  was  his  entrance  upon  a  more 
liberated  exercise  of  spiritual  ministry.     But  to  us  looking 
on,  it  seemed  the  most  natural  and  expected  result  of  all 
that  liad  gone  before. 

His  was  a  most  mcmor|l|^  character  and  personality. 
As  a  student  he  was  eagcfSfnd  ready  for  his  work ;  as  a 
minister  he  was  cntirelj^devpftd  to  spiritual  results,  re- 
joicing  in  these,  praying  and  labouring  for  them ;  as  a  man, 
affectionate,  helpful,  and  enkindling.  To  be  with  him  was 
to  move  in  a  high  region  of  reMgious  fellowship  and  refresh- 
ment. 


It  would  be  easy  to  multiply  similar  tcs 
so  precious  and  helpful  t(|j^c  children  of , 

the  life  and  ministry  now  ended  here,  f 

shall  say  that  the  ministry  is  ended?  He,  being 
^Sdjgad.  yet  speaketh.  and  must  speak  to  some  for 
alike  by  his  writi;igs  and  his  example. 
|f  I  ha^re  known  have  a  more  impressive 
^'^  *]|^|^  m^Isters:  this,  in  the  first 
piKpc,  SA  we  have  already  seen,  through  his  extra- 
ordinary  singleness  of  pi^pose  and  the  intensity  with 
which  he  redeemed  th^  time.    To  son^  of  us  his 


I 

•■•  t 


>4 


■ggfer 


had^ 


■■': 


9 
t 


>4 


i 


'  ''il 


HIS  WORKS  DO  FOLLOW  HIM         9^ 

ify  portrait    ipeakt,  as    Henry  Martyn't  did    to 

harlei  Simeon.  ^ 

"There  I"  lald  Mr.  Simeon,  looking  up  with  ifTecfiowile 
eamettnett  at  Mr.  Martyn's  picture,  ai  it  hung  rvver  hi« 
fireplace — "there  I  we  that  bleued  man.  What  an  ex- 
prcsiion  of  countenance  I  No  one  loolii  at  me  as  heUoei ; 
he  never  taket  hia  eyca  off  me,  and  seems  always  eo  be 
saying,  '  Be  serious :  be  in  earnest :  don't  trifle— dbn't 
trifle.' "  Then,  smiling  at  the  picture,  and  gently  Iwtlng, 
he  added,  "  And  I  won't  trifle— I  won't  trifle."  % 

Bat  especially  George  Macgregor's  life  speaks  % 
Its  unwcaric<l  quest  for  holiness.  That  was  thir^ 
mastcr-passion  of  his  life.  When  a  'student,  he  was 
noted,  as  wc  have  just  seen,  for  putting  spiritual 
things  always  first.  He  knew  that  college  life,  e 
for  a  student  of  divinity,  is  a  critical  time.  "He 
often  expressed  his  conviction,"  says  Mr.  Kelman, 
"  that  theological  study  n)ust  h6  either  the  establish- 
ing or  the  spoiling  of  a  man,  and  he  enrolled  himself 
in  New  College  in  a  spirit  of  anxious  determination 
that  by  God's  grace  he  would  not  let  his  ardour 
cool.*  In  after  yeirs  there  was  less  of  conscious 
iffort,  l>ut  that  was  only  because  Christ  had  even; 
more  become  his  life.  That  the  man  was  perfect  we 
do  not  claim.  Weaknesses  and  imperfections  there 
were,  as  with  his  brethren  ;  some  of  them  lay  upon 
the  surface.    But  few  have  exercised  in  most  things  a 


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GEORGE  H.  C.  MACGREGOR 


more  watchful  self-discipHhe,  and  few  have  kept  more 
steadily  in  view,  not  as  a  far-off  hope  for  the  other 
life,  but  as  a  presejit  experience  through  faith,  the 
fulness  of  the  Spirft  and  union  with  God. 


^' 


What  he  did  also  in  the  cause  of  missions  will 
not  be  forgot;|;en.  Few  have  done  more,  wherever  his 
influence  extended,  to  put  th^r  great  duty  of  the 
Church  of  Christ  on  its  proper  basis.  Christ  for  the 
world,  and  the  world  for  Christ:  such  was  his  aim, 
and  the  means  towards  its  accomplishmeht  was  that 
every  follower  of  Christ  should  reckon  himself  a 
missionary,  responsible  in  his  own  degree  for  the 
winning  of  the  world,  for  his  Lord.  To  burn-in  the 
sfense  of  this  responsibility  on  the  general  Christian 
conscience  wks  his  earnest  desire.  He  longed  to  see 
far  rnore  volunteers  go  forth,  as  he  himself  would 
fain  have  gone  ;  J||^(onged  Jbr  k  fer  greater  measure 
of  liberality ;  butiabove  all,  he  insisted, on  the  need 
oi  prayer,  th«?  little  ^KJoklet,  tke  Supreme  Need  in 
Mission  ^tfr/5,  atlreMy  spoken  of,  is  among  his  best/ 
legacies  to  the  Church  of  Chijst  ' 


.\ 


> 


•Ml 


So  the  worker  is  gone,  but  the  work  continues, 
in  which  he  and  we  alike  are  labourers  with  God. 
Heavy,  indeed,  is  the  sense  of  loss,  for  a  soul  more 
bright,  courageous,  ind  brotherly— above  all,  more 
devoted  to  Christ — we  shall  hardly  look  .to  find.    But 


.\ 


HIS  WORKS  DO  FOLLOW  HIM  ags 

his  memory  and  example  remain;  and' «ven  as  we 
thankfully  dwell  on  the  remembraijce  of  this  good 
gift  lent  to  us  for  a  season,  our  thoughts  are  lifted 
up  in  praise  and  adoration  to  the  Eternal  Giver. 


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INDEX 


•■^^ 


Aberdeen  Churches,  75 
A  HofyLi/e,  176  ff. 
Aldersgate  Y.M.C.A.,  170, 173 
Alexander,  Dr.  William,  77,  99 
AUenvale  Cemetery,  loi,  274, 

•■.■■28a'  :•■;"■ 
"Apostle  of  the  North,"  the, 

Aspircitions  of  the  Christian^ 
The^  198 

'         ■  -•  ,  '£''       '  J  ^ 

Barclay  *  Church,^  Edinburgh, 

51,  60,  64,  258  ff. 
Bamet,  Mission  at,  265 
Bible  criticism,  45,  197,  276 
Bible,  knowledge  of,  46,  217    / 
Bible  readings,  195/. 
Blackj  Rev.  Dr.  J.  J.,  25,  49 
Bonar,  Rev.  Dr.  A.  A.,  97, 167 
Bored  ear,  the,  address   on, 

141,  214,  262 
Brooke,    Rev.    Hubert,    147, 

204  ff.,  270 
Budd,  J.  T.,  266  'ii; 

"  Burn,"  the,  at  Ferintosb^  2i, 

Burntisland,  call  to'.  74/ 


.  Cha 


Calder,  Rev.  Charles,  19 


Calderwood,  Professor  Henry, 

34,37 

Canada,  203 

Chicago :  Bible  Institute,  148, 
2^3  ;  call  to,  147  ;  visited, 
^,213 

Christian  Endeavour,  227,261 ; 
Conventions,  262  ;  ad- 
dress to  Endeavourers, 
'198,275 

Copsley,  142 

Cunningham,  Principal  Wil- 
liam, 46 

Davidson,  Professor  A.  B.,  45, 

197 
Drummond,  Proflessor  Henry, 

51,  211,248  ^    ^ 

Edinburgh  University)  31 
Election  and  sovereignty,  192 
Elie,  preach'ng  at,  55 
Evangelistic  work,  remarks  on, 

Exeter  Hall,  1 59, 1 7 1,  270 

Faith,  place  of,  in  sanctific^- 

tion,  62,  112 
Ferintosh,  15,  40,  54 


V..; 


INDEX 


1 


-4- 


I         1 


Flag-raising  at  Winonjl  Park, 

U.S.A.,ii4 
Free    Church   of    Scotland: 
Foreign     Missions,    65 ; 
Jewish     Miisidns,     233  J 
theological  training,  40 

Garden,  James  Murray,  73. 77, 

'    99.  >o» 
Gi\)son,  Rev.  Dr.  J.  C,  227 

Giving  to  Missions,  157 

Gospel  Glimpses,  19'^ 

Greek  Testament,  46,  1 75.  243 
Guinness,  Dr.  H.  Grattan,  212 

Hamlin,  Dr.  Teunis,  214  ff. 
Harford-Batiersby,  Rev.  Canon 

T.  F.,  135 
Hebrew  reading,  58    ^ 
Highland  religion,  22 

Intellectual  difficulties,  letter 

on,4i.  i9»-94 
Inverness  Academy,  25 
.     Inwood,    Rev.    Charles,    147. 

/       204  ff 

/journal,  extracts  from,.  38,  79, 

Keith-Falconer,  Hon.  Ion,  65, 

150 
Kelman,Rev^John,247,29r 

KeswicK^^Convention,  96.  105. 
etc.;    described    by  Dr, 

^    Moule,  I29ff• 
Keswickteaching,  inff.      _ 
Kilpatrick,  Rev.  Professor  T. 

B.  74,  8ir  87  V 


Kinnaird,  Hon.  Emily.  161 
Kirkland,  Dr.  James,  277  «• 

Laidlaw,  Rev:  Professolr  J.,  5», 

289-  ■■•■•■^^:..-.      . '    ■- 

Letter  of  deepest  pathos,  169 
Life  of  Faith,  extracts  from, 

216-18,  266 
"Lord,  dismiss  us  with  Thy 

blessing,"  248 

McCheyne,  Rev.  R.  M.»  4,  2°. 

98,167 
Macdonald,  Dr.  John,  15.20        / 

Macgregor,  Dr.  Alexander  D.,    f 
33,  38.  49.  79,  80  . 

Macgregor;    Miss    Elizabeth 
Fleming,  63;  death,  249, 

-255    ,'  '  ■    . 

Macgregor,      Miss      Forbes 

Carnaby,  letters   to,    45, 

60-64,  »09, 153 
Macgregor,  Rev.  George  a 

C,  passim:     birth   and^ 

parentage,   15  ff- J    ^^^ 
and   school    life,   23  ff.  ; 

university,  31 ;  New  Col- 
lege,  41 ;  temporary  scep- 
tical phase,  41  -;  practical 
training,  52 ff-J  Bridge- 
town, 57 ;  Hebrew  tutor, 
60 ;  asked  to  go  to  Aden* 
65;  calls  to  Aberdeen  and 

Bumtislandi74  5  marriage, 
98;  first  visit  to  Keswick, 
105,  108;  becomes  a 
speaker  there,  121;  ac- 
cepts call  to  London,  1 5»  5 


INDEX 


»97 


.'^ 


i6i 

ft  h  S\ 

OS,  >69 
ts  from, 

rith  Thy 


M.>  4,  2o» 

»,  15. 20  ■■■•':(: 

ander  D^     f 

Elizabeth 
leath,  249. 

Forbes 
rs   to,    45. 

Seorge  H. 
birth   and 
ff.  ;    horne^ 
ife,   23  ff.  ; 
1  New  Col- 
>orary  scep- 
[ ,;  practical 
r.  J   Bridge- 
ebrew  tutor, 
go  to  AdeOj 
berdeen  and 
'4 ;  marriage, 
;  to  Keswick, 
becomes    a 
e,  121;    ac- 
London,  1 5> » 


V.  M.C  A.  and  other  work, 
173  ff. ;   Canada,  204  ff. ; 
Northfield,  208 ff.;   char- 
acteristics,    3  ff.,    165  f., 
221,  240  ff.,  290  ff.^  last 
illness,  277  ;  deatK,"  281 ; 
funeral,  281  f. 
-  Macgregor,  Rev.  John,  75,  79, 
8i 
Macgregor,  Rev.  Malcolm,  15, 
.      67,79;    letters  to,  35,  36, 

37,57 
"Macgregor  has  tuned  me  !" 

,.   ',-200 

Mackay,  Rev.  |.  J,,  91 
McNeill,  Rev.  John,  73,  122 
Macphail,  Rev.  Dr.  j.  C,  76 
Martyn,  Rev,  Henry,  291 
Mathieson,    James    E.,    viii., 

M9,  »57,  170,  185,280 
Mercer,  Arthur,  229 
Meyer,  Rev.  F.  B.,  vii.,  109, 281 
Moody,  D.  L.,  122,  136,  148, 

208,  2IO 

Moody,  Mrs.  Emma  G.,  letter 

from,  287 
Moody  Stuart,  Rev.   Dr.  A., 

20,97,261 
Morgan,  Rev.    G.   Gampbell, 

208  ff.,  281  ;   his  tribute, 

216,  218 
Moule,  Rev.  Professor  H  ■  G.  G., 

y"-.44,  54,  109,  122,  223, 

224;  his  recollections  of 

a  friend,  127-43 
Murray,  Rev.  Andrew,  260 

Negro  preacher,  story  of,  205 


New  Barnct  Mission,  265 
NicoH,  Dr.  W.  Robertson,  46, 

77 
Northfield,  206,  208  ff. 
Notting    Hill,    Trinity    Pres-" 

byterian  Church,  149^  257,7 

281  ■■.:."., 

Nova  Scotia,  57 

Ogilvie,  Thomas,  94,  228/    "" 
v^Old  H  ighland  days,"  1 6 
Outlines    of    Theology   (Dr. 

H.  G.  G.  Moule),  223 
Owen,  Dr.  John,  On  the  Holy 

Spfrit,  175,  19s 

Paton,  Rev.  David,  23! 
Pearsall  Smith,  R.,  135         " 

Perfectionism,    condemnation 
of,  176 

Perth  Conference,  97 

Pierson,  Dr.  Arthur  T.,  209^ 
.212     .  ■ 

Polan,  Mark,  234 

Pontresina,  120 

Prayer  for  Missions„229 

Praying  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  195 

Presbyterian  Church  of  Eng- 
land :   Foreign  Missions, 
232;  Jewish  Mission, 234; 
:  Synod,  232,  280 

Putterill,  J.  H.,  171,  172,  270 

^rt^^<;«/./ sermon  on,  9,  262 
Rainy,  Rev.  Principal,  81 
Riddell,  Rev.  John,  59     ^ 
Robertson,  Lieut.   Alexander, 

/■■  ■■■,20  -'.' 


tr-t" 


.■^^ 


t  '; 


398 


INDEX 


um^- 


{ 


RosCj  James,  of   Hazlehead, 

77.98 
Rose,  William,  77.  99 
Ross,  Rev.  G.  A.  J.,  viii.,  39, 

66,81,  no,  281,  383 
Rothe,  RichftEdr^24S 

Saphir^  Rev.  Dr.  Adolph,  149, 

Sheikh      Othman      Mission 

(Aden),  65 
Short,  John,  256 
Simeon,  Rev.  Charles,  50,  291 
Smith,      Professor      George 

Adam;  87,  197 
Smith,    Pf.    George,    C.  I.E., 

.•  .  ;6s-      ..    •■■.,■..■; 

Smith,  Professor  W,  Robert- 
son, 77,  99,  197 

So  Great  Salvation,  11 3^  122- 
"■    »24-    '_ 

Southey,  Robert,  128 

Stalker,  R6v.  Dr.  James,  174^ 
280 

Stewart,  Sir  T.  Grainger,  67 

Studd,  C.  T.,  and  Stanley 
Smith,  61      •         "- 

Students'  Missionary  Confer- 
ences, 65,  235,  269 

Sunday-  School  Times  (Amjcri- 
can),  215 

Supretne  >  Need  in  Mission 
Work  The,  228  flf.,  292 


Taylor  Smith,  Bishop,  211 
Temper,    victory    over    im- 

patieiit,  117  fT. 
Things  0/  fhe  spirit,  \t\ 
Toronto,  147,  207 
Torrey,  Rev.  R.  A.,  148 

Ush«r,  Miss,  letters  to,  326, 
237,  262,  263 

Walker,  Mrs.  Dunbar,  156 
Wesley,  Rev.  John,  4,  89 
Who  Kindled  the  Fire  f  170 
Whyte,  Rev.  Dn  Alexander, 

50,  224 
Wilson,  Rev.  Dr.  J..  R,  51, 60, 

231,233,258 
Wilson,  Robert,  120,  130,  249, 

288 
Wingate,  Rev.  William,   151, 

,233 
Winona  Park  Convention,  213 

Yoimg  Christians'  Missionary 
Union,  235 

Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation :  in  London,  170  ;' 
Winona  Park,  214  ;  Aber- 
deen, ioi,.273 

Young  Women's  Christian 
Association,  London  Con- 
ference (1898),  160 


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